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Total 100 articles, created at 2016-04-01 12:03 1 WT20: Really disappointed with two no-balls, says MS Dhoni after defeat
(2.00/3) A distraught India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the two no-balls bowled to Lendl Simmons by Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya for team's shock ouster from the World T20, here yesterday 2016-04-01 12:03 2KB www.mid-day.com 2 PNP: Most of private armed groups found in ARMM, Central Mindanao DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Majority of the 85 private armed groups identified all over the country can be found in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Central Mindanao or Region 12, 2016-04-01 12:03 4KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 3 1 killed, 13 hurt after police open fire in North Cotabato farmer protest DAVAO CITY -- A farmer was killed while at least 13 others were wounded after police forces opened fire at some 6,000 protesters in Kidapawan City on Friday morning. The protesters were 2016-04-01 12:03 3KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 4 Miss Universe shares the ‘taste of joy’ with kids While the universe lay at her feet, coming home to the Philippines is never complete for reigning Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach without a trip to the country’s number one fastfood chain. On her 2016-04-01 12:03 2KB entertainment.inquirer.net 5 Poe decries violence in Kidapawan farmer rally, calls for probe Presidential aspirant Grace Poe strongly condemned on Friday the violent dispersal of protesting farmers in Kidapawan City as she called for the immediate investigation and resolution of the 2016-04-01 12:03 2KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 6 UP Diliman Faculty Center fire extinguished After 10 hours since it started before dawn Friday, the fire that razed the Faculty Center at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City was officially declared out at 11:25 a.m., with 2016-04-01 12:03 3KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 7 Huawei 2015 profit jumps 32 percent on smartphone demand BEIJING — Huawei Technologies Ltd., one of the biggest makers of telecoms equipment, said Friday its 2015 profit jumped 32 percent on strong sales of smartphones and switching gear as carriers 2016-04-01 12:03 2KB technology.inquirer.net 8 Selena Gomez’ Revival tour is coming to Manila! The long wait is over! Global pop sensation Selena Gomez is finally coming to Manila and will be bringing her much-awaited The Revival Tour on July 31, 2016 at the Mall of Asia Arena. Selena 2016-04-01 12:03 2KB entertainment.inquirer.net 9 Maharashtra Government assures help to BEST, but where will the money come from? In what seems practically impossible to do because of the constraints its debt-ridden coffers face, the state government has assured the island city power consumers that it will grant financial assistance to the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking to avoid a tariff hike this year 2016-04-01 12:03 3KB www.mid-day.com 10 Solon: ‘Hungry’ Kidapawan farmers just wanted gov’t aid DAVAO CITY—Mindanaoan congressman and human rights lawyer Carlos Isagani Zarate condemned the violent dispersal of barricading farmers and lumad who were demanding relief because of the effects of 2016-04-01 12:03 3KB newsinfo.inquirer.net
11 BTMU seals P36.9B Security Bank buy-in deal JAPAN’S largest banking group Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. (BTMU) has completed a P36.9-billion fresh capital infusion to Security Bank in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the local bank, 2016-04-01 12:03 3KB business.inquirer.net 12 Prince William to the rescue after British man got injured Briton Jim Schemer sustained injuries when a branch of a tree tripped over and dislocated his shoulder and hip. The incident left him unconscious and it took him awhile before he realized he was 2016-04-01 12:03 2KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 13 Poe vows to work harder even after keeping lead in Pulse poll LUMBAN, Laguna—Despite maintaining her lead in the latest Pulse Asia survey, presidential bet Grace Poe recognized the need to work harder to keep pacing her rivals and ensure her victory in the 2016-04-01 12:03 3KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 14 Baby Found Safe Following Mall Abduction; Woman in Custody Police say a baby boy who was kidnapped from an upscale shopping mall in suburban Philadelphia has been found safe, and a suspect is in custody. Upper Merion Township police say 7-week-old Ahsir Simmons was found safe Thursday night, about five hours after he was... 2016-04-01 12:03 1KB abcnews.go.com 15 When 6 ft 5 inch Ian Bishop had a trouser problem in Mumbai... The former West Indies pacer, now a commentator in the WorldT20 tournament, was unable to find whites to fit in when the team was in Mumbai during the 1989 Nehru Cup semi-final 2016-04-01 09:15 5KB www.mid-day.com 16 Georgia Nicols horoscopes for April 1 Avoid shopping or making important decisions from 11:30 a.m... 2016-04-01 12:00 4KB chicago.suntimes.com
17 Dear Abby: Today's the day to advise oddballs DEAR READERS: I couldn't let April Fools' Day go by without featuring a few of the more colorful letters that have shown up in my 2016-04-01 12:00 3KB chicago.suntimes.com 18 Strong 6.0-magnitude quake hits off Japan coast; no tsunami TOKYO—A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's southwest coast on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, but local authorities said there was no danger of a tsunami. The 2016-04-01 11:49 1KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 19 DMCI nets P12.3B CONSUNJI-led conglomerate DMCI Holdings posted a 20-percent growth in core net profit last year to P12.3 billion led by the double-digit growth in earnings from its power generation, property, water 2016-04-01 11:48 2KB business.inquirer.net 20 Sotto, Drilon top Senate bets in latest survey Former and incumbent lawmakers lead the list of probable winners in the senatorial race for the May elections, results of the latest ABS-CBN-commissioned Pulse Asia survey revealed. The survey, 2016-04-01 11:43 2KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 21 Fishing season opens on New Hampshire’s large lakes Fishing season is open for trout and salmon on New Hampshire’s largest lakes. 2016-04-01 11:41 1KB www.washingtontimes.com
22 South Mumbai school forces parents to buy overpriced stationery in-house Parents of students accuse management of Colaba's Scholar High School of targeting their children for refusing to pay Rs 3,000 as stationery fee 2016-04-01 11:36 3KB www.mid- day.com 23 Man killed inside Cebu City Internet café CEBU CITY—A 30-year-old man was shot dead by a still unidentified gunman while inside an Internet cafe in Sitio Cactus, Barangay Inayawan in Cebu City past 5 a.m. on Friday. The man, who was 2016-04-01 11:31 1KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 24 Rescuers search debris in Indian overpass collapse, 22 dead KOLKATA, India — Using saws, small cranes and their bare hands, rescuers searched for survivors early Friday under the crumbled concrete and twisted steel left when an overpass collapsed onto a 2016-04-01 11:12 4KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 25 STI, Benitez family end squabble over PWU AFTER over a year of legal battle, the Benitez family and STI group ended their feud over Philippine Women’s University (PWU) and its basic education arm Jose Abad Santos Memorial School 2016-04-01 10:47 2KB business.inquirer.net 26 Mumbai: Sion Hospital rape centre refuses to treat 3-year- old girl Sion Hospital doctors insist on an FIR, which is not needed; stressed family waits for 3 hours before taking her back home, changes sexual assault claim to mishap 2016-04-01 10:46 3KB www.mid-day.com 27 Duterte camp: Administration in ‘panic mode’ MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon -- The camp of Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte scoffed at President Benigno Aquino III's recent verbal offensive against the candidate from Mindanao. Jun 2016-04-01 10:37 2KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 28 Lionel Messi's auctions boots for charity; provokes outrage in Egypt A charitable gesture by Argentinian football star Lionel Messi has provoked outrage in Egypt, where a lawmaker and football official took umbrage at the donation: his football boots 2016-04-01 10:21 2KB www.mid-day.com 29 Mumbai: ED attaches Rs 120-crore assets of NCP MLA Ramesh Kadam After veteran NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and his family, another party leader came under the scanner of ED which yesterday attached assets worth Rs 120 crore of sitting MLA Ramesh Kadam in a case of alleged embezzlement of over Rs 300 crore in a state- run corporation 2016-04-01 10:21 1KB www.mid-day.com 30 Campus Cricket: Rizvi down Podar to emerge city champions Rizvi College (Bandra) defeated RA Podar College (Matunga) to emerge champions in the Red Bull Campus Cricket in the City Round on Wednesday 2016-04-01 10:19 1KB www.mid-day.com 31 NB controversy: Nick Young talks about women other than fiancee Iggy Azalea in video NBA player D'Angelo Russell records teammate Nick Young talking about women other than his fiancee Iggy Azalea, causing a crack in the locker room 2016-04-01 10:12 3KB www.mid-day.com
32 Mohun Bagan coach's suspension reduced to 4 games The All India Football Federation yesterday reduced the eight-match suspension of Sanjoy Sen to four games after the Mohun Bagan coach tendered an unconditional apology to the apex body 2016-04-01 10:02 2KB www.mid-day.com 33 Mumbai: HC blasts Central and Western Railways for not being disabled-friendly The Bombay High Court yesterday blasted the Central and Western Railways for not making its trains and stations disabled friendly 2016-04-01 10:01 2KB www.mid-day.com 34 Pakistan JIT quizzes Salwinder, others in Pathankot attack Suspended Gurdaspur SP Salwinder Singh was among over a dozen witnesses questioned on Thursday at the NIA headquarters here by a visiting Pakistan team regarding the Pathankot terror attack 2016-04-01 09:53 2KB www.mid-day.com 35 CRPF hunts for mole who leaked troop info in Dantewada Following the Dantewada attack, the CRPF has begun a probe to find out the mole 'who can be from within the force or outside' 2016-04-01 09:49 1KB www.mid-day.com 36 Basketball legend Michael Jordan tops Forbes list of richest retired athletes Michael Jordan has retained his place at the top of Forbes' list of highest-paid retired athletes 2016-04-01 09:44 976Bytes www.mid-day.com 37 F1: Australia crash puts Fernando Alonso out of Bahrain GP Double world champion will not take part in Sunday's Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix as the Spaniard is yet to fully recover from injuries sustained in his horrific crash in the season-opening race in Australia 2016-04-01 09:43 3KB www.mid-day.com 38 Parrot lands on unsuspecting Australian TV reporter Australian reporter Brittney Kleyn had a shock when a parrot landed on her shoulder and would not let go, moments before she was due to go live. 2016-04-01 09:43 841Bytes www.bbc.co.uk 39 Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu enter quarters; Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei ousted Defending champion Saina Nehwal and two-time World Championship bronze medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals but it turned out to be a dismal day for star shuttlers Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, who crashed out of the India Open Super Series here yesterday 2016-04-01 09:42 5KB www.mid-day.com 40 Miami Open: Novak Djokovic overcomes back spasms to reach semis Top-ranked defending champion Novak Djokovic withstood back spasms throughout the second set on Wednesday to defeat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3 and reach the Miami Open semi-finals 2016-04-01 09:40 2KB www.mid-day.com 41 PCB calls off its plans to host Afghanistan due to security Pakistan has called off its plans to host the Afghanistan cricket team in April following last Sunday's suicide bombing in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 70 people 2016-04-01 09:38 1KB www.mid-day.com 42 Karnataka Std XII paper leaks twice in 10 days Hours before the rescheduled Chemistry exam was to begin, department of pre-university education was alerted about the leak in two locations 2016-04-01 09:38 1KB www.mid- day.com 43 WT20: When Ajinkya Rahane made the most of it in his first game... Ajinkya Rahane, playing his first match of the World T20 tournament, stood up to expectations of team management as well as cricket fans 2016-04-01 09:35 2KB www.mid- day.com 44 Oscar Pistorius to be sentenced for Reeva Steenkamp's murder in June Former Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius will face sentencing for murder in June. The 29- year-old faces a lengthy prison term after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier conviction of manslaughter and found him guilty of murder for his shooting of Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 2016-04-01 09:26 1KB www.mid-day.com 45 WT20: Darren Sammy says Windies drew inspiration from U-19 boys West Indies skipper Darren Sammy said they drew a lot of inspiration from the recent performance of their Under-19 team that won the World Cup and their women team's show this afternoon 2016-04-01 09:25 1KB www.mid-day.com 46 CBS New York Yankees, Mets, Jets, Giants, Knicks, Nets, Devils, Rangers and more. 2016-04-01 07:10 5KB scoresandstats.newyork.cbslocal.com
47 UK-US nuclear waste deal to 'help in cancer fight' David Cameron is to announce a deal under which Britain will send nuclear waste to the US and, in return, Europe will receive a different form of used uranium for use in diagnosing cancer. 2016-04-01 07:50 2KB www.bbc.co.uk 48 1966: Owen and Heseltine go to Westminster Two heavyweight political veterans look back on their first days at Westminster, with Shaun Ley. 2016-04-01 07:50 7KB www.bbc.co.uk 49 Bernie Sanders Holds Rally In The Bronx Bernie Sanders held a rally in St. Mary's Park in Mott Haven, the Bronx on Thursday, March 31, 2016. 2016-04-01 08:23 2KB cbsloc.al 50 Luke Watson gets lifeline at Bulls Former Kings and Springbok loose forward Luke Watson’s career has received a lifeline by signing a short-term deal for the Bulls. 2016-04-01 08:30 1KB www.sport24.co.za 51 ‘Save Beaucatcher’ group says Asheville citizens are being lied to KMorgan 1182 posts 2016-04-01 08:21 7KB www.thetribunepapers.com 52 This Week in Pictures: Top Photos from Around the Globe Find this week's top photos from around the globe in ABC News' This Week in Pictures slideshow 2016-03-31 19:00 862Bytes abcnews.go.com 53 This is only the beginning: Nate Silver explains how Donald Trump has “hacked the system” and created a roadmap for future political con men As long the system remains unchanged, politicians will exploit it — and now they know how to do it 2016-03-31 18:59 2KB salon.com.feedsportal.com 54 Pig's heads found on fence at Moroccan ambassador's Paris home Two pig's heads have been found attached to the fence of the Moroccan ambassador's residence in a chic suburb of the French capital, police say. 2016-04-01 08:18 1KB www.news24.com
55 Will tomorrow's smart office be a saviour or a spy? Buildings, like homes, are getting smarter - but what does that actually mean and who are they best serving? 2016-03-31 18:55 7KB www.bbc.co.uk 56 Yahoo - Introducing Fair Play on Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy Yahoo Launches Key Changes in Daily Fantasy to Help Level the Playing Field for Fans Including Entry Limits, Labeling of Veteran Players and No... 2016-04-01 07:09 2KB investor.yahoo.net 57 Yahoo - Yahoo Appoints Two New Board Members --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced that its board of directors has increased its size from seven to nine directors and appointed the following two new independent directors, effective. With the additions of Cathy and Eric, the board returns to the size it was on , prior to the resignations of and Charles Schwab..... 2016-04-01 07:09 3KB investor.yahoo.net 58 Yahoo - Yahoo Statement Regarding Starboard Announcement --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- today noted Starboard Value LP's announcement of its intention to nominate nine director candidates for election to Yahoo's Board of Directors at the company's 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The Board's will review Starboard's proposed director nominees and respond in due course... 2016-04-01 07:09 4KB investor.yahoo.net 59 Bailey Gwynne case: Schoolboy killer to be sentenced A teenager who stabbed a 16-year-old to death in an Aberdeen school is due to be sentenced later. 2016-04-01 07:08 1KB www.bbc.co.uk 60 Newspaper headlines: Steel future, Ronne Corbett, Zaha Hadid, April Fool The future of the British steel industry and the death of entertainer Ronnie Corbett make the front pages. 2016-04-01 07:08 8KB www.bbc.co.uk 61 Tata Steel: Sajid Javid to visit Port Talbot steelworkers Business Secretary Sajid Javid returns from a trip to Australia to meet Port Talbot steelworkers, insisting the government is "on their side". 2016-04-01 07:10 6KB www.bbc.co.uk 62 Birmingham Academy to pay back more than £100k funding A Birmingham academy chain must pay back more than £100,000 in government funding. 2016-04-01 07:10 2KB www.bbc.co.uk 63 Yahoo - Lexus Revs Up Basketball Fans with New Campaign on Yahoo Sports and Launches Bracket Challenge New campaign promotes the all-new 2016 Lexus GS F timed with the 2016 Men's College Basketball Tournament --(BUSINESS WIRE)... 2016-04-01 07:09 3KB investor.yahoo.net 64 Government accused over China trade links as minister visits steel crisis plant Ministers have been accused of prioritising trade links with China over support for the UK steel industry as Sajid Javid prepares to meet steelworkers in Por... 2016-04-01 06:52 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk 65 Prince Charles encourages Prince George to start gardening The Prince of Wales is encouraging Prince George to follow in his gardening footsteps by helping him plant trees at his Highgrove estate, he tells BBC Gardeners' Question Time. 2016-04-01 07:10 2KB www.bbc.co.uk 66 No joke on 1 April: It's national 'price hike' day More than a million workers are celebrating a pay rise as a result of the National Living Wage, but 1 April sees a raft of price rises too. 2016-04-01 07:11 2KB www.bbc.co.uk 67 Musician sues Royal Opera House over ruined hearing A renowned viola player is suing the Royal Opera House for ruining his hearing and his career during rehearsals of Wagner's Die Walkure. 2016-04-01 07:10 5KB www.bbc.co.uk 68 Indian lunar orbiter hit by heat rise - CNN.com Scientists have switched off several on-board instruments to halt rising temperatures inside India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft. 2016-04-01 02:29 2KB rss.cnn.com 69 Shuttle Endeavour lands at California air base - CNN.com Space shuttle Endeavour landed safely Sunday afternoon at California's Edwards Air Force Base after NASA waved off two opportunities for a Florida landing because of poor weather. 2016-04-01 02:29 3KB rss.cnn.com 70 The rise and fall of the GLC It's 30 years since one of the most controversial experiments in local government was scrapped. What was the GLC and how has it shaped today's politics? 2016-04-01 07:02 14KB www.bbc.co.uk 71 How an alcoholic monk founded her own monastery Fifty years ago, Luang Poh Yaai became the first woman in Thailand to live as a Buddhist monk - now others are doing the same. 2016-04-01 07:02 7KB www.bbc.co.uk 72 Man charged with double murder over Canterbury killings A man is charged with the murder of two people following an argument at a property in Kent. 2016-04-01 07:02 1KB www.bbc.co.uk 73 Police to recruit extra 1,500 firearms officers Police forces in England and Wales are to begin recruiting an extra 1,500 firearms officers to help protect the public from terrorism, David Cameron says. 2016-04-01 07:02 2KB www.bbc.co.uk 74 Crumlin Road Gaol: Evolution from symbol of conflict to concerts Twenty years since the closure of Crumlin Road Gaol to prisoners, a look at its journey from symbol of conflict to heritage site. 2016-04-01 07:02 6KB www.bbc.co.uk 75 GlaxoSmithKline to 'drop patents in poor countries for better drug access' UK pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline says it wants to make it easier for manufacturers in the world's poorest countries to copy its medicines so more people can have access to them. 2016-04-01 07:02 3KB www.bbc.co.uk 76 Ronnie Corbett, best known for The Two Ronnies, dies aged 85 Comedian Ronnie Corbett, best known for his partnership with Ronnie Barker in The Two Ronnies, has died. 2016-04-01 07:02 7KB www.bbc.co.uk 77 Cat crime fighters could collar County Durham criminals Cats could become the latest crime fighters in County Durham after a five-year-old girl writes to the force chief. 2016-04-01 07:02 2KB www.bbc.co.uk
78 Could Brexit change the face of football in the UK? So far the arguments about the EU referendum have tended to concentrate on issues like the economy or migration, but what about football? 2016-04-01 07:02 722Bytes www.bbc.co.uk 79 Quiz of the week's news The Magazine's weekly quiz of the news, 7 days 7 questions. 2016-04-01 07:02 606Bytes www.bbc.co.uk 80 Rescuers dig for survivors in Kolkata An overpass collapse in Kolkata, India, crushes vehicles below, killing 24 people and leaving dozens missing. 2016-04-01 07:48 1KB rss.cnn.com 81 S. Korea says North fired missile, jammed GPS systems North Korea fired another short-range missile off its east coast on Friday, South Korean officials said, as regional leaders met in Washington to discuss the... 2016-04-01 07:47 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk 82 Robbie Fulks on how not to be “a guy in his 50s singing about sex or good times or even the opposite, about married contentedness” Alt-country's former firebrand talks to Salon about Chekhov, writing about poverty and ditching libertarianism 2016-04-01 07:01 7KB salon.com.feedsportal.com 83 How baseball got so lame: The national pastime is so white and so dreary — and is still a money machine Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Or Reggie Jackson? The strange downfall of America's signature sport 2016-04-01 07:01 5KB salon.com.feedsportal.com 84 Food Prices Accelerate Faster Than Expected The price of food is accelerating faster than expected. Reminds me of the bad black horse of the apocalypse, "and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 2016-04-01 07:35 2KB www.news24.com 85 President Zuma: going, going or already gone? Though no one can put a date on it, we should keep an open mind in March 2016 about when President Zuma resigns or retires 'for reasons of health'. T 2016-04-01 07:35 5KB www.news24.com 86 Does ANC now stands for African National Corruption? One can say it starts from the top running through to the bottom as all the ANC members now seem to be linked to the corruption scandals which have rocked the party. 2016-04-01 07:35 3KB www.news24.com 87 Lions v ‘Saders: Skippers the key? Which of rival captains Warren Whiteley and Kieran Read has more fire in the belly could help sway the Lions-Crusaders tussle, suggests Rob Houwing. 2016-04-01 07:25 8KB www.sport24.co.za 88 Concern as US bat-killing disease jumps to west coast Wildlife officials express concern as white-nose syndrome, which has killed millions of bats in eastern US, is detected on the country's west coast. 2016-04-01 07:02 4KB www.bbc.co.uk 89 WT20: Kohli masterclass in vain as Windies stun India to enter final Virat Kohli's all-round show was all in vain as West Indies rode on some great batting and luck to beat India in the second semifinal at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium and reach the WT20 final 2016-04-01 07:07 3KB www.mid-day.com
90 Anbang unexpectedly scraps $14bn bid for Starwood Hotels Chinese insurance firm Anbang unexpectedly abandons its $14bn takeover offer for Starwood Hotels, ending a bidding war with Marriott. 2016-04-01 01:06 1KB www.bbc.co.uk 91 The danger with streaming and driving A police officer is running an unofficial social media campaign to stop people streaming and driving. 2016-04-01 07:02 5KB www.bbc.co.uk 92 Inside a hijack: The unheard stories of the Pan Am 73 crew Nearly 30 years after the hijack of Pan Am Flight 73 at Karachi airport, six of the crew speak to the media for the first time. 2016-03-31 18:55 11KB www.bbc.co.uk 93 New tech speeds up TV shows so you can binge even more! New streaming tech speeds up TV shows and movies by as much as 42% without impacting voice or video quality. 2016-04-01 06:40 2KB www.channel24.co.za 94 5 reasons why Hillary Clinton’s first New York ad missed the mark Has she forgotten she's still competing against Bernie Sanders and not Donald Trump? VIDEO 2016-04-01 07:01 1KB salon.com.feedsportal.com 95 The Times & The Sunday Times News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times 2016-04-01 05:25 562Bytes www.thetimes.co.uk 96 Categories Archives Take a look at the list of this weekend’s planned roadwork and lane closures around metro Atlanta’s interstates, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation. Click here to get real-time updates on traffic conditions around the metro area Follow @AJCWSBTraffic on Twitter to get those updates... 2016-04-01 07:04 2KB commuting.blog.ajc.com 97 The 93 Global Energy Billionaires Of 2016 - In Photos: The 93 Global Billionaires In Oil And Energy, 2016 Here we present the 93 global billionaires who have made their fortune (or at least a good chunk of it) in the energy industry. We cast a big net in order to capture everyone from Elon Musk, whose Tesla Motors is building new battery technologies,... 2016-04-01 07:02 1KB www.forbes.com 98 Virginia State Trooper, suspect killed in bus stop shooting RICHMOND, Va. (WXIA) - A Virginia State Trooper died in a Thursday afternoon shooting at the Greyhound Bus Station in Richmond, VA. The gunman was also killed in the shooting, which injured at least two others. 2016-04-01 06:26 3KB rssfeeds.11alive.com 99 Church organisation to deliver King Dalindyebo pardon petition The Council of Churches South Africa International is expected to deliver a petition to the Speaker of the National Assembly, calling for a presidential pardon and the release of King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo. 2016-04-01 06:21 1KB www.news24.com 100 7M of 10M overseas Pinoys can vote–DFA At least 7 million out of the approximately 10 million Filipinos abroad can qualify as registered voters, according to estimates of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Overseas Voting 2016-04-01 06:15 2KB globalnation.inquirer.net Articles
Total 100 articles, created at 2016-04-01 12:03
1 WT20: Really disappointed with two no-balls, says MS Dhoni after defeat (2.00/3) A distraught India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the two no-balls bowled to Lendl Simmons by Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya for team's shock ouster from the World T20, here yesterday. MS Dhoni. Pic/AFP Ashwin's no-ball gave Man-of-the-Match Simmons 'life' at 18 when Jasprit Bumrah had taken the catch while Pandya overstepped when the right-hander was on 50. Simmons went to score an unbeaten 82 to win it for the Caribbeans. "It was a bad toss to lose. Then it was a 7 pm start which meant that second innings started half an hour early. It was not bad when we started bowling. The spinners did not have much on offer due to dew. We have a history of problems when the spinners bowl with wet ball. The only thing I am really disappointed are the two no-balls," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony. The skipper said it had become imperative for him to finish quota of his fast bowlers Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah much before the death as that was the only way to make a game out of it. "There was not much on offer, we wanted our fast bowlers to make a game out of it at the time as it was difficult for the part-timers against big-hitters like Russell. I felt that if they bowl well then part-timers will get a cushion of extra 5-7 runs," said Dhoni. Dhoni said that T20 is a demanding format but they have been used to it due to IPL. "The conditions were very tough. It's a demanding format as most of the games are close and only one or two games are such where a team cruises through. We play a lot of close games in the IPL and we were up for it. "
Dhoni laughs off retirement talk sport24.co.za 2016-04-01 12:03 By PTI www.mid-day.com
2 2 PNP: Most of private armed groups found in ARMM, Central Mindanao DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Majority of the 85 private armed groups identified all over the country can be found in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Central Mindanao or Region 12, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dir. Gen. Ricardo Marquez told reporters here. ARMM is made up of the provinces of Maguindanao, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu; while Region 12 is composed of the provinces of North and South Cotabato, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat and the cities of Cotabato, General Santos, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Koronadal. Marquez told reporters here Thursday that the PNP has already placed these private armed groups under tight surveillance, especially with the conduct of the upcoming May national elections, because some of them were closely identified with politicians. At least 80 percent of the private armed groups operating in the country are found in the two Mindanao regions, he added. “Some of them are identified with certain candidates,” Marquez said, without providing additional details. However, he said that in priority areas like the ARMM, the national task force for the disbandment of private armies has already taken over to implement measures that will prevent violence in the area. Marquez was in the city for a two-day command conference of the PNP. Marquez said the operation of private armed groups is among the risk factors identified by the PNP as they work on the security plan for the elections. The other factors include the proliferation of illegal firearms, presence of communist insurgents and other threat groups in some rural areas. Marquez also said the police force is supporting the move of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in addressing the threats of the communist-led insurgency. He said at least 99 hotspots had also been identified in relation to the May polls. Marquez said the PNP was now implementing a “whole government approach” for its security plan for the elections—similar to the strategy used in the recently concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held in Manila. “One of the things I’m focusing on is to improve our security plan by involving the other government agencies, because as commander of APEC, I was able to see the strength when all government agencies put their to acts together, we could easily accomplish what we’re aiming for,” he said. Marquez said the security plan was further being fine-tuned. “What we would like to see more is a much closer coordination with other agencies deputized by Comelec (Commission on Elections) for the purpose of the election operation, we have the teachers who will man the polling precincts, the treasurer to keep the election paraphernalia until these are delivered to the polling centers, we’d like to engage more the private provider To Go, the entity contracted by the Comelec to transport the election paraphernalia from the hub to the provincial and the regional centers,” Marquez said. “I’d like to put them on board and discuss the security plans in every facet of the election activities to ensure the conduct of an orderly and peaceful elections,” he added. RAM RELATED STORIES Armed groups big poll threat—Comelec PNP checking 50 private armed groups
2016-04-01 12:03 Germelina Lacorte newsinfo.inquirer.net
3 1 killed, 13 hurt after police open fire in North Cotabato farmer protest DAVAO CITY — A farmer was killed while at least 13 others were wounded after police forces opened fire at some 6,000 protesters in Kidapawan City on Friday morning. The protesters were demanding relief and subsidy for farm communities affected by the dry spell. Norma Capuyan, leader of Apo Sandawa Lumadnong Panaghiusa sa Cotabato, said that the incident happened around 10:30 on Friday morning after the police tried to disperse the protesting farmers. “They really wanted to drive us away. They destroyed our sound system and fire water cannons against us,” Capuyan said. Capuyan explained that the protesters decided to hold their line and this is when the firing started. “Loud bursts of gunfire erupted. It was volume fire. They used high-powered rifles like M16,” Capuyan said. A farmer died on the spot after sustaining gunshot wounds in the foot, leg and shoulders, she added. “We ran to a church compound and the police are now surrounding us. We cannot even bring the wounded to the hospital,” Capuyan said. North Cotabato governor Emmylou Talino-Mendoza told the Inquirer that the violence ensued after the farmers attacked the police who were serving an order, along with social workers, to rescue minors in the barricade and to clear the highway. “They were to rescue the children with the help of social workers. It also became a police matter because it is already an illegal assembly for their permit was only for Monday. They were given 5 minutes to vacate,” Mendoza explained. READ: Cops guard NFA compound vs farmers demanding rice The governor asserted that the police were non-violent in performing their duties during the barricade because they were ordered to observe maximum tolerance. “While the police were trying to rescue the children, the protesters started throwing stones at them. At least 20 cops sustained wounds from the rocks. And then a gunshot was heard and a police reportedly got hit,” Mendoza said claiming that the first shot came from the protesters. Mendoza said that she does not want to mix the incident with politics but she noted that former political rival ex-governor Emmanuel Piñol was present in the area and had an interview claiming that Davao City mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte will be there today. She also added that the effort to rescue children from the barricade was prompted by the clash between suspected communist guerrillas and government forces in Makilala town on Thursday evening that led to the death of a 7-month old baby and two other minors who were hit by stray bullets and shrapnel. “The wounded cops are now being treated at the hospital while we are also giving the same level of medical attention for the wounded protesters. Some 6,000 farmers have been protesting what they said was the government’s inaction on their plight and demanded rice rations, claiming the El Nino has left them and their families with less food. READ: 6,000 North Cotabato farmers block highway, demand food, farm aid; cops blame activists North Cotabato lost over P1 billion from the drought. CDG READ: North Cotabato gov’t urged to release rice subsidy to farmers
2016-04-01 12:03 Karlos Manlupig newsinfo.inquirer.net
4 Miss Universe shares the ‘taste of joy’ with kids While the universe lay at her feet, coming home to the Philippines is never complete for reigning Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach without a trip to the country’s number one fastfood chain. On her second trip home since winning the much-coveted crown, the Miss Universe did not only drop by Jollibee, she also helped spread joy to 20 kids from an orphanage who were invited to a special Jollibee lunch party. The Jollibee Buendia-Bautista branch, on the border of the cities of Makati and Pasay, quickly turned into a playground for four- to eight-year-old kids who – like Pia and her entourage – were served with a filling meal of two-piece Chickenjoy, chocolate sundae, and Peach Mango Pie. They were also treated to a special dance number by the Jollibee and Friends mascots. Pia earlier revealed in a Buzzfeed Philippines interview that she’s a Jollibee fan, with the Chickenjoy as her favorite. During the short program, Pia also imparted some life-lessons to the kids during the simple program. “ Importante na lagi tayong maging magalang sa mga nakakatanda sa atin, mag-aaral ng mabuti, at parating magdasal, lalo na bago kumain (It is important that we are respectful to our elders, study well, and always pray, especially before meals),” said Pia, addressing the children. A symbol of hope and perseverance for Filipinos, Pia joined the local Binibining Pilipinas three times before winning the crown to represent the Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant. Her victory ended a 63-year drought since the country last won the Miss Universe crown and brought jubilation among Filipinos here and abroad. As a special gift to the kids, Pia distributed Jollibee toys and gamely posed for photos with them. ADVT.
2016-04-01 12:03 INQUIRER.net entertainment.inquirer.net
5 Poe decries violence in Kidapawan farmer rally, calls for probe Presidential aspirant Grace Poe strongly condemned on Friday the violent dispersal of protesting farmers in Kidapawan City as she called for the immediate investigation and resolution of the case. “We condemn the violent incident that resulted in the death of one person and wounding of dozen other protesting farmers in North Cotabato,” Poe said in a statement. “The situation calls for authorities and concerned agencies to immediately investigate and resolve this case, and bring to justice those responsible,” she said. READ: 1 killed, 13 hurt after police open fire in North Cotabato farmer protest Poe said the farmers staged their activity for a “rightful demand – government aid amid the drought being experienced in the province, which she said is killing their crops and depriving them of harvest and food to eat. “This should have been attended to by the concerned agencies at the outset that would have prevented the farmers from taking to the streets,” she further said. READ: 6,000 North Cotabato farmers block highway, demand food, farm aid; cops blame activists A farmer was reportedly killed and at least 13 others were wounded after police forces opened fired at some 6,000 protesters in the City this Friday morning. The protesters were reportedly demanding relief and subsidy for farm communities affected by the dry spell. CDG
2016-04-01 12:03 Maila Ager newsinfo.inquirer.net
6 UP Diliman Faculty Center fire extinguished After 10 hours since it started before dawn Friday, the fire that razed the Faculty Center at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City was officially declared out at 11:25 a.m., with investigators ruling out speculations of arson. Crisfo Diaz, regional director for operations of the Bureau of Fire Protection- National Capital Region, said the fire that started on the third floor of the three-storey building also known as the Bulwagang Rizal was possibly due to electrical causes. READ: Fire razes UP Diliman Faculty Center building Diaz said light materials inside the building, including papers, books and other documents could have contributed to the intensity of the blaze, which reached other floors. “With regards to the building contents, sari-saring light materials made up of papers, mga books nila, records, lahat lahat na ‘yun. Siguro hindi napansin ng mga on duty na security guards, so ‘yun lumaki ‘yung chance ng apoy, na-develop siya na malakas ‘yung intensity agad,” Diaz said in an interview. (With regards to the building contents, there were different light materials made up of papers, books and records. Perhaps the security guards on duty did not notice it so it could have contributed to the intensity of the fire.) “Nung nagdevelop na ‘yung apoy, baka nadamay na ‘yung mga electrical site, o baka sa electrical site talaga nagsimula,” he added. (When the fire intensified, it could have reached the electrical site or maybe the blaze started from the electrical site.) Diaz also dismissed speculations of arson, which surfaced since it was the third fire that hit a building in the UP campus in less than a year. READ: Scenes after the UP Faculty Center fire “Walang matumbok na tao na arson ‘yung ginawang paraan para sunugin (There is no person we can point at if arson was indeed employed to set the building on fire), so what remains there is the presence of the power of electricity. So ‘yung ating mga investigators ngayon (So the investigators), they are trying to find out the specific cause,” he said. Diaz also belied reports that the fire “rekindled” in the morning after being declared under control at 4:40 a.m., saying that the reported spark was a result of combustion caused by a “sudden mix of oxygen coming from the atmospheric air.” “It’s not rekindling, it’s part of the process. Nagkaroon ng (There was a) complete combustion due to presence of fuel, heat and oxygen,” he said. Diaz said one senior fire officer was injured from responding, while the structural damage was estimated at P3 million. The fire that was first reported at 1:20 a.m. reached fifth alarm after about ten minutes and was raised to Task Force Alpha around 3 a.m. Task Force Alpha is a call code to send all firetrucks to the scene to put out the blaze. The Rizal Hall or Bulwagang Rizal houses the department offices of the College of Arts and Letters, faculty rooms of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy and the UP Creative Writing Center. In 2015, a fired also razed the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association (Casaa) food center in June and another fire hit the UP Alumni Center in July. RAM RELATED STORIES Fire hits UP Diliman’s Casaa food center Fire hits UP Alumni Center
2016-04-01 12:03 Yuji Vincent newsinfo.inquirer.net
7 Huawei 2015 profit jumps 32 percent on smartphone demand BEIJING — Huawei Technologies Ltd., one of the biggest makers of telecoms equipment, said Friday its 2015 profit jumped 32 percent on strong sales of smartphones and switching gear as carriers upgraded wireless networks to 4G. Huawei said it earned 36.9 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) on global revenue of 395 billion yuan ($60.8 billion). Huawei, the first Chinese company to break into the top ranks of global technology providers, is privately held but releases annual results in an attempt to ease concern in the United States and some other countries that it might be a security risk. The company, based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, said sales of smartphones and other consumer technology rose 73 percent to 129.1 billion yuan ($19.9 billion). Founded in 1987 as a maker of switching gear, Huawei launched a smartphone brand in 2009. It passed Chinese rival Lenovo last year to become the No. 3 smartphone brand behind Samsung and Apple by handset shipments, according to IDC. Huawei said earlier it shipped 108 million smartphones last year, the first Chinese brand to pass the 100 million mark. READ: Huawei introduces new style of business with Mate 8 Sales of network gear rose 21 percent to 232.3 billion yuan ($35.8 billion) as telecoms carriers upgraded to fourth-generation mobile service. Huawei competes with Finland’s Nokia Corp. and Sweden’s LM Ericsson in network gear and wireless base stations. Huawei has China’s biggest corporate research and development budget and said spending on that rose 46 percent last year to 59.6 billion yuan ($9 billion). READ: Chinese phones go global after pushing aside Apple, Samsung
2016-04-01 12:03 Associated Press technology.inquirer.net
8 Selena Gomez’ Revival tour is coming to Manila! The long wait is over! Global pop sensation Selena Gomez is finally coming to Manila and will be bringing her much-awaited The Revival Tour on July 31, 2016 at the Mall of Asia Arena. Selena Gomez made her mark in entertainment by conquering film, music and television at an early age. On the big screen, she began making the transition from young actress to adulthood with such films as the much talked about Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers.” The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival to critical acclaim while Gomez’s performance was singled out as a “breakout.” She was most recently seen in the Academy Award nominated film “The Big Short” opposite Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling. “Fundamentals of Caring” alongside Paul Rudd premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Gomez was named by Vulture.com as one of “The 20 Best Performances of Sundance 2016.“ She will next be seen in Seth Rogen’s “Neighbors 2” and later this year in the James Franco directed “In Dubious Battle.” As a recording artist Selena has sold over 45 million tracks worldwide. Gomez’s recently released her critically acclaimed album “Revival.” The first two singles off the album “Good For You” and “Same Old Love” went to number one on the US Top 40 chart. “Hands To Myself”, her third single of the album, is now in the Top 10 charts worldwide. In May, she will hit the stage and embark on her highly anticipated global “Revival Tour.” Gomez has added executive producer to her impressive list of credits. Academy Award winner Tom McCarthy will join Gomez as executive producers of the Netflix original series “!3 Reasons Why.” Giving back has always been an important element in her life. She was named the youngest goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF at 18 years old and has worked tirelessly to support this organization ever since. Selena was honored for her continued support at Variety’s first ever Unite4: Humanity event with the Young Humanitarian Award alongside Bill Clinton. Gomez has traveled to Ghana, Chile and most recently to Nepal as an advocate for some of the world’s most vulnerable children. She has hosted “We Day” in both Vancouver and Chicago for Free The Children, an organization that empowers young people to achieve their fullest potential as agents of change by being active local and global citizens.
2016-04-01 12:03 INQUIRER.net entertainment.inquirer.net
9 Maharashtra Government assures help to BEST, but where will the money come from? In what seems practically impossible to do because of the constraints its debt-ridden coffers face, the state government has assured the island city power consumers that it will grant financial assistance to the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking to avoid a tariff hike this year.. BEST has asked the state for a bail-out package Energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday assured help in reply to a debate raised by MLC Narendra Patil, who opposed the BEST’s proposal that the power consumers across the city should pay for recovering its Transport Deficit Recovery Loss (TDLR) of R 1,689 crore. Currently, BEST recovers TDLR from its 10 lakh consumers. “The government will intervene once Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commi-ssion (MERC) approves the BEST tariff. We will also see to it that all power consumers in Mumbai are not forced to pay TDLR,” said Bawankule. According to power sector experts, offering financial grants to BEST or directing MERC to stay the undertaking’s new tariff would be the two best possible ways of doing it. The minister did not clarify as to how the state would help out a larger chunk of consumers in the western and eastern suburbs. But the question is will the state which is reeling under a debt of Rs 3.50 lakh crore be able to shell out significant grant to BEST? The BJP government had even stopped a monthly subsidy of Rs 700 cr that the earlier government had sanctioned for reducing the burden of the consumers of the Mahavitaran, a state-controlled power distribution company that caters to the eastern suburbs of Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra. “MERC decides tariff after electricity companies approach it for tariff revision. The government cannot intervene while MERC is hearing the tariff proposal. We are not in favour of imposing TDLR on all Mumbaikars and we will wait for the MERC decision,” said Bawankule. All of Mumbai’s power companies, two private (Reliance and Tata), civic undertaking BEST and state’s Mahavitaran have submitted their tariff revision proposals to MERC. All of them want better hike in next three years. In view of differential tariff for all four companies, the consumers are demanding a uniform tariff in the city, which has close to 45 lakh consumers. The state government has recently appointed a consultant to study the issue. In case of BEST, which is fast losing its business to Tata Power in the island city, the business has become even more difficult to run because of a loss-making transport wing. Unfortunately, the two businesses – electricity distribution and transport – cannot be separated for legal reasons. As of now BEST’s transport is benefiting largely from the profit- making electricity business. BEST has repeatedly asked the state for a bail-out package.
2016-04-01 12:03 By Dharmendra www.mid-day.com
10 Solon: ‘Hungry’ Kidapawan farmers just wanted gov’t aid DAVAO CITY—Mindanaoan congressman and human rights lawyer Carlos Isagani Zarate condemned the violent dispersal of barricading farmers and lumad who were demanding relief because of the effects of the long dry spell in Kidapawan City on Friday. At least one farmer was killed while about 13 others were wounded after the police opened fire at the barricade. READ: 1 killed, 13 hurt after police open fire in North Cotabato farmer protest “We are enraged by this violence against the protesting peasants and lumads. While candidates do away with public funds for their self-interest, this is what you do to our peasants who assert for funds that are rightly theirs! State forces shot at them like animals! Bayan Muna condemns this uncalled-for violence of police forces to the highest degree,” Zarate said. Zarate said the barricade should have been addressed in the context of a humanitarian crisis and not through brute force. “When poor farmers choose to leave their farms and go to the city to ask for food, (it) is a cue for the government to address it directly. The government should not think about politics involved. Hunger knows no politics,” Zarate commented. READ: Drought victims demand rice aid Zarate said that the principles of social justice assert that it is of utmost importance to address the urgent needs of the people. “Why would we allow our hands to be tied by protocols? The people are already hungry. We cannot deny the harsh effects of the drought. And that is the purpose of calamity funds,” Zarate said. READ: Gabriela decries ‘massacre of farmers’ in Kidapawan The Bayan Muna representative also condemned that national government for allegedly being absent in the crisis. “The government has been very insensitive and irresponsive to the situation of the people. This crisis is not just local but is national by scope. Where are the billions of funds that are supposed to be used in crisis like this?” Zarate remarked. Zarate raised the challenge to candidates, asking them to respond to the situation of the farmers. “More so, we challenge candidates to demand justice for this brutality against hapless farmers and act upon the grievances of these peasants impacted by El Niño,” Zarate said. “This marks a demise of what is left of democracy in our country. This is resonant of Mendiola Massacre and Hacienda Luisita Massacre, both of which happened under the reign and in the front yard of the Aquinos. True to form, the haciendero Aquino administrations of the past and the present are accumulating grievous sins against the peasantry,” Zarate further added.
2016-04-01 12:03 Karlos Manlupig newsinfo.inquirer.net
11 BTMU seals P36.9B Security Bank buy-in deal JAPAN’S largest banking group Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. (BTMU) has completed a P36.9-billion fresh capital infusion to Security Bank in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the local bank, sealing what is seen as a “game-changing” partnership that will alter the local banking landscape in the years ahead. In return for the capital investment, Security Bank has issued to BTMU 150.71 million common shares and 200 million preferred shares, making the Japanese group its second largest shareholder of Security Bank, the bank disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday. The group of Frederick Dy remains as the biggest shareholder of Security Bank with majority voting control. In a special board meeting of Security Bank, BTMU’s nominees Takayoshi Futae and Takahiro Onishi were elected to the board of directors. Futae is the managing executive officer in charge of Japanese corporate credit of BTMU based in Tokyo while Onishi is deputy general manager for global corporate banking of BTMU in Japan. “We welcome BTMU’s representatives to the Security Bank Board. We are happy to share with our customers and stakeholders the good news that our partnership deal with BTMU has been completed today. With our bigger capital and the combined strengths of Security Bank and BTMU, we look forward to serving our customers better than before,” said Security Bank chair Alberto Villarosa. Go Watanabe, chief executive officer for BTMU Asia and Oceania, said that the strategic alliance with Security Bank was very much aligned with the bank’s expansion plan in Asia. “We are very excited with the opportunity to work closely with Security Bank. We have started exploring various areas for collaboration including work-site business and PPP (public-private partnership) projects. By partnering with Security Bank, we can expect to expand our business platform and identify new business areas for BTMU in the Philippines,” he said. With BTMU’s 20 percent equity investment, Security Bank’s shareholder capital increased to P90.2 billion pro-forma as of April 1 from P53.2 billion as of end-2015. Security Bank’s book value per share increased by 36 percent to P119.53 pro-forma as of April 1 from P88.17 as of end-2015. This puts Security Bank among the five largest private domestic universal banks in the country by capital. The additional capital will be used to accelerate the execution of Security Bank’s growth strategies. “We will be able to more effectively deliver our service-oriented ‘BetterBanking’ brand to our customers through a larger branch network and a more comprehensive range of financial services. We hope to accelerate growth of our retail banking business as well as better coverage of the SME (small and medium enterprise) sector. With BTMU’s expertise in project finance, we expect to participate more actively in PPP and infrastructure projects. Additionally, in partnership with BTMU, Security Bank will be able to penetrate the Japanese business community,” said Security Bank president Alfonso Salcedo Jr.
2016-04-01 12:03 Doris Dumlao business.inquirer.net
12 Prince William to the rescue after British man got injured Briton Jim Schemer sustained injuries when a branch of a tree tripped over and dislocated his shoulder and hip. The incident left him unconscious and it took him awhile before he realized he was being rescued by Prince William. Due to severe injuries, the 37-year-old arborist was escorted to the East Anglian Air Ambulance, a medical helicopter piloted by Prince William, who is second-in-line to the British throne. “It wasn’t until they were actually loading me into the helicopter that it clicked,” Schemer explained in an interview with British television network channel ITV. “‘Willsy better not be flying this thing.’ He turned around and said, ‘I’ve been holding your head for the last 30 minutes.'” He further added: “I was so drugged up on ketamine that I went, ‘Oh well, you better come see me in the hospital then.'” According to NBC Nightly News, the incident happened on March 22 near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. Prince William accompanied Schembri for 40 minutes in an emergency room. The Duke of Cambridge begun working as an air paramedic last July and donates his entire salary, costing around 40,000 pounds ($75,000) to charity. This is not the first time the royalty has flown to rescue victims. In November 2011, he saved two stranded sailors in Irish sea. Gianna Francesca Catolico, INQUIRER.net
2016-04-01 12:03 INQUIRER.net newsinfo.inquirer.net
13 Poe vows to work harder even after keeping lead in Pulse poll LUMBAN, Laguna—Despite maintaining her lead in the latest Pulse Asia survey, presidential bet Grace Poe recognized the need to work harder to keep pacing her rivals and ensure her victory in the May 2016 elections. “Ako ay talagang taus-pusong nagpapasalamat dahil hindi naman madali ito at ang survey naman ay paiba-iba,” Poe said in an interview here on Friday. (From the bottom of my heart, I am thankful because this is no easy feat; surveys are ever- changing.) “So ngayon patuloy lang ang ating pag-iikot na sabihin talagang ang problemang kailangan labanan natin ay kahirapan. Sa tingin ko ‘yun ang ating mensahe sa ating mga kababayan para maibsan ang kahirapan, magkaroon ng sapat na suporta ang gobyerno sa mahihirap,” she said. (Right now, we are continuing to go around the country and sending out our message on the fight against poverty. I believe that is our message to our countrymen: alleviating poverty and making sure that the government is assisting the poor.) Poe was reacting to the latest Pulse Asia Survey commissioned by ABS-CBN, which showed her as the voters’ top choice for president with 28 percent, followed by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with 24 percent, Vice President Jejomar Binay with 23 percent, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas with 19 percent and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago with two percent. READ: Poe keeps lead in latest Pulse Asia poll The survey was conducted from March 15 to 20, 2016 among 4,000 respondents. Poe though recognized that her numbers in the survey was not an assurance of her victory in the actual elections. “Sabi nga nila wala naman talagang numero na masasabi nating sigurado na hangga’t sa araw mismo ng halalan,” she said. (As they say, no survey numbers can guarantee our victory other than the numbers during Election Day.) READ: Poe camp grateful for ‘unwavering’ support amid survey lead Told about some observations that her lead in the survey was slim compared to what was expected after the Supreme Court allowed her to run for president, Poe said it only proved that she still has to work harder as she is facing strong opponents in the presidential race. Asked if she now considers Duterte as her strongest rival in the race, Poe said: “May kanya- kanyang lakas ang bawat kandidato, kaya importante talaga ‘yung mensahe ng mga kandidato.” (Each candidate has his or her own strong suit, that’s why it is important for us to get our messages across.) IDL
Poe camp grateful for ‘unwavering’ support amid survey lead newsinfo.inquirer.net 2016-04-01 12:03 Maila Ager newsinfo.inquirer.net
14 Baby Found Safe Following Mall Abduction; Woman in Custody Police say a baby boy who was kidnapped from an upscale shopping mall in suburban Philadelphia has been found safe, and a suspect is in custody. Upper Merion Township police say 7-week-old Ahsir Simmons was found safe Thursday night, about five hours after he was abducted from the King of Prussia Mall. Police say a woman befriended the boy's family, and they sat down together in the food court. When the baby became fussy, police say the woman asked if she could hold him. The mother allowed her to do so while she took a phone call and dealt with other children in her care. The woman then walked away with the baby. Authorities received tips that led them to nearby Tredyffrin Township, where the woman and child were found.
2016-04-01 12:03 By abcnews.go.com
15 When 6 ft 5 inch Ian Bishop had a trouser problem in Mumbai... Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop, now a commentator doing duty in the ICC World T20, had quite a peculiar problem when the team was in Mumbai to take on India in the 1989 Nehru Cup semi-final. The 6-feet-five-inch Trinidadian was unable to find whites to fit in. Ian Bishop We learn that then West Indies captain Vivian Richards approached his friend, the late Hemant Waingankar and requested him to solve his young fast bowler's problem. Along with his colleague Anil Joshi, Waingankar took Bishop in his Fiat car to Avanti Collections at Dadar where Bishop's trousers were ordered. Proprietor of a Dadar shop, L Dada measures up Ian Bishop On the way back to the hotel, Joshi suggested to Waingankar that they take the youngster to their friend Sunil Gavaskar's new home at Worli. The batting legend was not at home but Bishop was just happy to be there. "Oh yeah… that happened, but I can't remember much about it now," said 48-year-old Bishop when mid-day reminded him of cloth store. MCA scorers Hemangi Yerzal (left) and Vrinda Rathi at the Wankhede Stadium's Press Box yesterday. Pic/Ashwin Ferro When reminded that he also visited Gavaskar's home, Bishop paused and said with a smile: "Yeah Sunny's house… yeah… but that was a long, long time ago, so I can't recall much about it. " Can't blame the gentle giant, it was close to 27 years ago. From 'Sachin Sachin' to 'Rohit Rohit' at Wankhede The Mumbai crowd loves its cricket and cricketers to bits. And with time though their preferences may have change, the manner in which they express themselves, hasn't. 'Saachin Saachin' was a chant the Wankhede was synonymous with for decades and even the great batsman acknowledged the goose bump-feeling in his farewell speech after his 200th Test against the West Indies at the same venue. Yesterday, during the semi-final between India and West Indies, the full house chanted the name of another Mumbai batsman, who got after the Windies attack. Chants of 'Roohit, Roohit' reverberated from the stands as opener Rohit Sharma hammered Windies' medium pacer Andre Russell for consecutive sixes in the sixth over. Unfortunately, the chants didn't last long as Sharma was trapped leg-before by leg-spinner Samuel Badree 12 balls later for a well made 31-ball 43 (3x4s, 3x6s). Female scorers sorry for state of women's cricket IT was rather unfortunate to see yesterday's ICC World T20 women's semi-final between West Indies and New Zealand played in front of a virtually empty Wankhede Stadium. But MCA's three female scorers, Varsha Nagre (29), Hemangi Yerzal (29) and Vrinda Rathi (27) who were on duty at the Wankhede press box tried to put things into perspective. "The Indian crowd wants to see Indians do well but unfortunately our girls didn't even make it to the semi-finals. It's difficult for stands to fill up if there is no local team on view and for this, our team is to blame. However, the authorities would do well to bring in some girls schools to watch the women's matches. That would serve as a good encouragement to the team," said Rathi, who has played cricket for the Mumbai University team in the past. Yerzal, another former Mumbai player felt that while women talk about getting equal facilities and more money, at the end of the day, it's the performance that counts. "With the BCCI now taking the women's team under their wings, we should be performing better. I don't intend to criticise the team but the fact remains that there is no dearth of facilities for our women players now so here's hoping they do well in the future. That will bring in the crowds and elevate the status of the game in the country," said Yerzal. 3000 burgers & 1000 sandwiches for fans Indian cricket fans sure have an appetite, and this can be gauged by the stock of food that was being brought into the Wankhede Stadium yesterday for the India vs West Indies semi-final match. One of the vendors at the burger stall put this appetite into perspective with some staggering numbers. "We have ordered around 3000 burgers, veg and non-veg combined. It's priced at a nominal R100 for both veg and non-veg and we expect all to be sold out by 9pm latest," said the vendor. The nearby Subway sandwich outlet was a little pricey and probably that's why the stock was comparatively lesser. "We have around 1000 sandwiches — two veg and two non-veg varieties — priced at R200 and R250 each," said the sandwich guy. However, these numbers are specifically for India matches. For non-India matches the food ordered is considerably less. "I travelled to the Nagpur match too (India vs NZ) and the quantity of food we ordered there too was the same. However, for the England vs West Indies game at the Wankhede recently, we had ordered only 1000 burgers and some remained unsold there too," added the burger seller.
2016-04-01 09:15 By Ashwin www.mid-day.com
16 Georgia Nicols horoscopes for April 1 Avoid shopping or making important decisions from 11:30 a.m. until 8:45 p.m. Chicago time. After that the Moon moves from Capricorn into Aquarius. Check the Moon Alert today. Let us be reminded that the benefits of Jupiter will continue to bring you marvelous job opportunities as well as chances to improve your job this summer until October. Likewise, you can also improve your health! Make use of this blessing. Do something different today because you are restless for adventure! You want to expand your horizons, grab life by the throat and feel the thrill of being alive. Travel if you can; however, be aware of the Moon Alert today. Be aware of the limitations of the Moon Alert today, especially if you are dealing with shared property, inheritances, insurance matters and anything that you own jointly with others. Do not make important decisions, especially financial ones, during a Moon Alert. For most of today, the Moon is opposite your sign, which means you have to go more than halfway when dealing with others. This simply requires patience, and an ability to compromise and be tolerant with others. You can easily do this. Shortages on the job and goofy mistakes are likely because of the Moon Alert today. Just go with the flow and remember that you are in the fortunate position of being able to boost your earnings now because of lucky Jupiter. This blessing lasts until the winter. In one way, you can see that some of your options are limited because of the Moon Alert today. For example, during this time, you don’t want to buy anything other than food or gas. You also don’t want to commit to anything important. Just cope as best you can. This is a popular time with you, especially with partners and close friends. Today, however, home and family are your primary focus. Nevertheless, overshadowing everything is the Moon Alert, which you cannot ignore. Do your best to get better organized right now because there is much that you want to achieve. However, you also feel playful and romantic. Enjoy this time of increased popularity because you are loved. Do not forget that for most of today, there is a Moon Alert. (See above.) This is a playful week for you! Not only that, others admire you now, especially people in power. No wonder you are pumped with energy and confidence right now. Nevertheless, do observe today’s Moon Alert especially when it comes to financial matters. Be smart. Home, family and your private life continue to be your primary focus now. Today the Moon is in your sign; however, it is a Moon Alert for most of the day. Keep this in mind, especially if you are making travel plans or exploring opportunities in publishing, the media, medicine and the law. This is a fast-paced day. Expect shortages and some confusion due to the Moon Alert. In the bigger picture, continue to be confident that you can get loans, mortgages and the support from others that is practical, financial or emotional. Yes! Because financial matters, earnings and cash flow are on your mind today, it’s important that you know that a good portion of today is a Moon Alert, which means you should only spend money on food and gas. Partnerships continue to be a blessing. David Oyelowo, actor (1976), shares your birthday today. You often master a particular craft or technique because you are patient, disciplined and hardworking. Unlike many Aries, you finish what you begin. You also create original work! Finally, the year you have been waiting for. Expansion and great activity are yours! Take advantage of opportunities that come your way. Expect a major change, perhaps as significant as what occurred around 2006. It’s time to test your future!
2016-04-01 12:00 Georgia Nicols chicago.suntimes.com
17 Dear Abby: Today's the day to advise oddballs I couldn’t let April Fools’ Day go by without featuring a few of the more colorful letters that have shown up in my mail recently … I’m getting ready to undergo my first-ever prostate exam. To be honest, I’m a bit nervous. What should I expect? Also, what’s the dress code for something like this? I’m thinking about wearing nice slacks and a collared shirt. The doctor has been patient and kind. He hasn’t put any pressure on me. I want this to be special. I’m thinking about bringing a bottle of wine. After all, it’s only the first time once. Advice? Your attire isn’t as important as your attitude. Just relax and let the doctor “handle” things. As to the wine, I have it on good authority that a nice bottle of cabernet sauvignon goes well with a prostate exam if you drink enough beforehand. I recently got a wedding invitation in the mail. However, it was meant for the previous occupants who used to live here. My question is, would it be wrong for me to crash the wedding? After all, I DID receive the invitation. I won’t make a fuss, and I’ll only be there for the free food. Like so many others. My boyfriend won’t stop asking me to marry him. The first time he proposed, we were in the middle of a fancy restaurant. It was very sweet. Naturally, I said yes. He must have liked the way the restaurant patrons and staff applauded us. Since then, he has proposed to me at a basketball game, in a museum, at a crowded party and in five other restaurants. When I tell him to stop, he says he loves me so much and wants everyone to know. What can I do about him? I feel he’s turning me into a con artist. We’re no better than those people who tell servers it’s their birthday just to get a piece of cake. Your fiance appears to like repeat performances. Now cross your fingers and hope he feels the same way about the wedding night. I love it when my husband mows the lawn. He does it shirtless and in his cutoff jeans, and it really gets me going. I’m so turned on by his pasty white skin and beer belly, it’s hard for me to control myself. Unfortunately, he has the same effect on other women in the neighborhood. I see them peeking through their curtains, staring at him. One woman sits on her porch with binoculars, blatantly ogling my man. What should I do? I considered telling my husband to remain fully clothed when he does yard work, but that punishes him far more than it does them. Silly girl. With a husband so mesmerizing, think of the money you could make selling tickets! My dog Fred watches your column religiously. I don’t think he understands the written word, at least not completely. But he sure tries. He sits there and looks at it intently. Sometimes he slobbers over the horoscopes — he’s a Pisces — but never on your column. I read your column out loud to him, too. He always barks during the funny parts. He’s the smartest dog I’ve ever seen. Abby, I just wanted you to know you have a four-legged fan out there. I’m “aarf-ully” touched to know that Fred’s a fan. Wishing you and Fred and all of my readers a Happy April Fools’ Day. For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order “How to Be Popular.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U. S. funds), to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, P. O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)
2016-04-01 12:00 Abigail Van chicago.suntimes.com
18 Strong 6.0-magnitude quake hits off Japan coast; no tsunami TOKYO—A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s southwest coast on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, but local authorities said there was no danger of a tsunami. The quake hit at 11:39 am (0239 GMT) off the coast of Japan’s main Honshu island, at a location about 350 kilometers (395 miles) southwest of Tokyo, USGS and the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake was measured at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers. No damage or injuries were immediately reported though heavy shaking forced some of the country’s bullet trains to temporarily stop running, public broadcaster NHK reported. Japan sits at the junction of four tectonic plates and experiences around 20 percent of the world’s most powerful earthquakes. But rigid building codes and strict enforcement mean even powerful tremors frequently do little damage. A massive undersea quake that hit in March 2011 sent a tsunami barreling into Japan’s northeast coast, leaving 18,500 people dead or missing, and sending several reactors into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant in the worst atomic accident in a generation. RELATED STORIES Earthquake shakes Tokyo, no tsunami risk Powerful quake strikes off Japan; no tsunami warning
2016-04-01 11:49 Agence France newsinfo.inquirer.net
19 DMCI nets P12.3B CONSUNJI-led conglomerate DMCI Holdings posted a 20-percent growth in core net profit last year to P12.3 billion led by the double-digit growth in earnings from its power generation, property, water and construction businesses. “Our growth was driven by the strong performance of all our investments. Despite weak commodity prices and project execution delays, we were able to meet our profit guidance for the year,” said DMCI chair and president Isidro Consunji. Including non-recurring items, DMCI’s consolidated net income rose by 19 percent to P12.8 billion last year. This was as the conglomerate booked a P530 million one-time gain on sale of its 25 percent share in Private Infra Dev Corp., the project proponent and operator of the Tarlac- Pangasinan-La Union Toll Expressway (TPLEX). The stake in the tollroad was sold to San Miguel Corp. Higher profits from energy generation fuelled an 18-percent increase in net income contribution from Semirara Mining and Power Corp. to P4.8 billion last year. As middle-income developer DMCI Homes recognized revenues from previous sales of completed high-rise projects, its net income contribution improved by 11 percent to P3.6 billion. Excluding the effect of a gain on sale of undeveloped lot in 2014, net income actually rose by 18 percent compared to last year. On the water utility business, continued improvement in operational performance and a 4 percent increase in billed volume in 2015 pushed net earnings contribution of affiliate Maynilad Water Services Inc. to grow by 17 percent to P2.3 billion. DMCI has a 25.24 percent economic interest in Maynilad. Better gross profit margins from ongoing projects in 2015 drove the net income contributions of D. M. Consunji Inc. to P628 million, up by 35 percent from the previous year. Net income contribution from DMCI Mining Corp. expanded by 38 percent to P501 million. Higher sales volume and streamlined operating costs helped mitigate the impact of declining nickel ore prices on the company’s bottomline. Meanwhile, off-grid energy supplier DMCI Power Corp. contributed P382 million, a 57 percent improvement from the previous year. The upsurge was attributed oo the increased energy dispatch of its power plants in Palawan, Masbate and Oriental Mindoro.
2016-04-01 11:48 Doris Dumlao business.inquirer.net
20 Sotto, Drilon top Senate bets in latest survey Former and incumbent lawmakers lead the list of probable winners in the senatorial race for the May elections, results of the latest ABS-CBN- commissioned Pulse Asia survey revealed. The survey, conducted from March 15-20, showed Senators Vicente Sotto III and Franklin Drilon shared the top spots with 53.6 percent and 51 percent. The two senators were placed in the 1st-2nd range. READ: Sotto back on top as most preferred senatorial bet—Pulse Asia Former senators Francis Pangilinan and Panfilo Lacson landed the 3 rd -4th places with 47.6 percent and 45.2 percent. Former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri got 40 percent, placing him in 5 th place while another former senator, Richard Gordon, had 36 percent, placing him in the 6 th -11 th range. Five candidates shared the 6th to 12th places: Sarangani Representative Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao (35.7%), former Akbayan Party List Representative Risa Hontiveros (34.3%), Senator Sergio R. Osmeña III (34.2%), former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) Director General Emmanuel Villanueva (34.0%), and former Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila M. de Lima (33.8%). Senator Ralph Recto completes the list of probable winners in the May senatorial elections with 32.8%, 7th to 12th places. Filipinos identified a mean of seven and a median of eight of their preferred candidates in the Senate. The survey has 4,000 respondents with biometric data and has a plus-or-minus 1.5 percent margin of error. CDG READ: Pangilinan leads, veterans still dominate Pulse Asia Senate poll
2016-04-01 11:43 Nestor Corrales newsinfo.inquirer.net
21 Fishing season opens on New Hampshire’s large lakes CONCORD, N. H. (AP) - Fishing season is open for trout and salmon on New Hampshire’s largest lakes. Friday marks the start of the season for anglers on 14 lakes managed by New Hampshire Fish and Game for landlocked salmon and lake trout and rainbow trout- including Winnipesaukee, Newfound, Sunapee, Ossipee and the First and Second Connecticut Lakes. Fish and Game officials last month reminded anglers that fishing season doesn’t open until April 1, after record early ice-out dates on some of the state’s larger lakes, including Winnipesaukee, made the season appear at hand. Also Friday, officials say, the Wellington State Park boat ramp on Newfound Lake reopened after extensive repairs to remedy unsafe conditions.
2016-04-01 11:41 - Associated Press - Friday, April 1, 2016 www.washingtontimes.com
22 South Mumbai school forces parents to buy overpriced stationery in-house Not buying stationery items from the school has led to teachers ignoring their children’s academic work, allege a few parents whose children study at Scholar High School in Colaba. The Scholar High School in Colaba They claim their children are being targeted because they questioned the school’s fee structure and additional charges levied under various categories, including stationery fee. The school, affiliated with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), charges Rs 3,000 as stationery fee that includes notebooks, class- works sheets, school calendar, fee-books, etc. Parents speak One of the protesting parents, said, “For a 100-page notebook, available in the market for anywhere between Rs 10 to Rs 20, the school charges Rs 30. All they do is just print their logo on it. Why should we pay extra for it? Moreover, items like calendars should be given free considering the exorbitant fee the school charges.” Another parent, whose child is in Std V said his son was not given paper-sheets during a class- work session because he had refused to pay the stationery fee. “He had to write in his notebook. I even received a call from the school teacher, saying that the next time my son won’t be allowed to attend class-work sessions if he doesn’t have paper- sheets,” the parent added, saying, “It is a sort of discrimination. You can’t single out a child in a class for such things. It affects the child’s psyche. We have to keep cheering him up to help him get over it. We are tired of arguing with this school, as it refuses budge from its stand.” Principal speak Principal Vanita Mansukhani said that all the allegations levelled against the school by the parents were false. When questioned about school charging stationery fee, she replied, “The school functions by adhering to all the necessary rules and regulations.” Expert opinion Jayant Jain, president of NGO Forum for Fairness in Education, said, “This is exploitation of parents. Why should they be charged for stationery above the regular fee? Why should it be mandatory to buy stationery from the school? Parents should decide on this. Most importantly, it is unacceptable to single out a child for a trivial reason.” Past controversy The school had courted controversy in the past for charging exorbitant fee and levying additional charges under various categories, which was in gross violation of the Prohibition of Capitation Fee Act. The school was asked to explain the additional charges and fee and whether these were PTA-approved after parents approached the Deputy Director of Education.
2016-04-01 11:36 By Pallavi www.mid-day.com
23 Man killed inside Cebu City Internet café CEBU CITY—A 30-year-old man was shot dead by a still unidentified gunman while inside an Internet cafe in Sitio Cactus, Barangay Inayawan in Cebu City past 5 a.m. on Friday. The man, who was identified as Gerlo Valencia, died from multiple gunshots to his body. A witness told police that Valencia was using a computer unit inside the Internet cafe early Friday morning. The witness said he suddenly heard bursts of gunfire and saw Valencia’s body fall on the ground. Police were still investigating the motive of the killing although probers received reports that Valencia was a troublemaker in the sub-village. RELATED STORIES 3 Internet cafe robbers dead Chinese woman, presumed dead, found living in Internet cafes for 10 years
2016-04-01 11:31 Chito Aragon newsinfo.inquirer.net
24 Rescuers search debris in Indian overpass collapse, 22 dead KOLKATA, India — Using saws, small cranes and their bare hands, rescuers searched for survivors early Friday under the crumbled concrete and twisted steel left when an overpass collapsed onto a crowded Kolkata neighborhood, killing at least 22 people, police said. With more than half the debris cleared by Friday morning, some 67 people have been pulled out alive, Kolkata police Sgt. P. Chakraborty said. But more people were still feared trapped. It was not clear how many people were missing. Smashed yellow taxis, a crushed truck, destroyed rickshaws and the bloody legs of trapped people jutted from the fallen girders and concrete. The overpass spanned nearly the width of the street and was designed to ease traffic through the densely crowded Bara Bazaar neighborhood in the capital of the east Indian state of West Bengal. About 100 meters (300 feet) of the overpass fell, while other sections remained standing. “I heard an explosion, a solid one,” said resident Rabindra Kumar Gupta, who had been home eating lunch when the overpass crashed down without warning around 12:30 p.m. Thursday. “My apartment shook. The whole building shook. When I looked outside, there was a lot of smoke.” READ: 21 killed, many trapped in overpass collapse in India Another resident, Yogesh Sharma, described a “huge crashing sound” when the overpass came down as he was been sitting at a roadside tea stand with friends. “I left my cup of tea and ran,” said Sharma, 23. “I was crying at the spot.” Crowds waited anxiously near the rescue area to see if neighbors and friends had survived. The intersection had been a place where street vendors and service workers regularly plied their trades “There used to be a tailor who sat here on this corner. We wonder about him. A cigarettes and tobacco vendor — we knew everyone who used to stay around this crossing,” resident Pankaj Jhunjhunwala said. “Until this rubbish is removed, we can’t say for sure where they are or how this happened.” Police said 39 of the more than 70 people rushed to hospitals were still being treated Friday morning. At least 22 people were killed. With army troops and personnel from the National Disaster Response Force joining the effort, police said they expected the rescue and cleanup to be completed by the end of the day. Huge cranes and other equipment were brought to the site to begin clearing the rubble. Workers also used cutting torches to break up the slabs. The operation was a “very, very challenging task,” said O. P. Singh, chief of the disaster response force. Rescuers also used dogs and special cameras to find people who were trapped, he said. “The area was very, very crowded. Motorized rickshaws, taxis … there was a lot of traffic,” one witness told NDTV television. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Washington at the time of the collapse, reportedly called Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the top elected official of West Bengal state, to express grief at the tragedy and pledge federal support. He said he was “shocked and saddened” by the collapse, according to a message on his Twitter account. “My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives in Kolkata. May the injured recover at the earliest.” Banerjee, whose has been campaigning for re-election this month, told reporters that a private builder had missed several deadlines for completing the construction. The contract for the overpass was signed in 2007 and it was expected to be completed in two years. Banerjee accused the previous Communist government in West Bengal of not adhering to building regulations. “We completed nearly 70 percent of the construction work without any mishap,” said K. P Rao, a top official of IVRCL Infrastructure company, which was building the overpass. “We have to go into the details to find out whether the collapse was due to any technical or quality issue.” Building collapses are common in India, where regulations are poorly enforced and construction companies often use substandard materials.
2016-04-01 11:12 Associated Press newsinfo.inquirer.net
25 STI, Benitez family end squabble over PWU AFTER over a year of legal battle, the Benitez family and STI group ended their feud over Philippine Women’s University (PWU) and its basic education arm Jose Abad Santos Memorial School (JASMS). Under the deal, PWU will remain under the control of the Benitez family but the family will give up in favor of STI certain assets of Unlad Resources Development Corp.: the property in Quezon City where JASMS currently operates as well as a separate property in Davao. In a joint statement disclosed by STI Holdings to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, the Benitez family and STI said they had settled their differences through a “dacion en pago” or payment-in-kind arrangement of these assets of Unlad. Under the terms of the agreement, JASMS will remain on the Quezon City campus along EDSA until the end of school year 2017 after which it will be moved to a new location. PWU, on the other hand, will retain its Manila campuses on Taft Avenue and Indiana Street in Manila. At the same time, representatives of STI- which is led by businessman Eusebio Tanco – will resign from PWU, allowing the Benitez family to consolidate control of this educational institution. PWU president Francisco Benitez described the settlement as “a mandate to rebuild PWU and JASMS while remaining true to the educational legacy of our founders.” Benitez said talks were underway to open new campuses outside Metro Manila in time for PWU’s centennial celebration in 2019. In end-2014, STI and the Benitez group wrestled for control of PWU following disagreements over a three-year old joint venture. STI afterwards moved to take over a controlling stake in PWU, citing the Benitez group’s failure to meet obligations under a cooperation deal forged in 2011. STI previously initiated extra-judicial foreclosure proceedings against PWU covering its Taft Ave. and Indiana St. campuses in Manila, the Jose Abad Santos Memorial School campus on EDSA, Quezon City and another property in Davao City. But from the point of view of the Benitez family, when STI took over its loans, the latter had agreed to waive all interests, thereby challenging the loan default declared by STI in court.
2016-04-01 10:47 Doris Dumlao business.inquirer.net
26 Mumbai: Sion Hospital rape centre refuses to treat 3-year-old girl The one-stop help centre for survivors of sexual violence at Sion Hospital has failed to keep itself abreast of the changes in law. On Wednesday evening, it turned away a girl, aged over 3, who was bleeding from her private parts when it realised that no FIR had been filed in the case. The child’s parents and accompanying constables from the Shivaji Nagar police station sought treatment for over three hours, but they eventually returned home dejected with the bleeding girl. A file picture of the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, generally known as the Sion Hospital According to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, an FIR is not mandatory to initiate a medical examination or treatment. The family, accompanied by police, rushed the child to the casualty ward of the Sion Hospital, a tertiary healthcare centre, around 6.30pm on Wednesday, claiming that a family member had sexually assaulted her. The doctor on call, however, refused to treat the girl, and referred them to the Rajawadi Hospital, a secondary healthcare facility, said Nitin Chavan, first investigating officer who was with the family. “The doctors asked us to file an FIR before starting a medical examination. But the family showed no interest in sharing any information as soon as it heard that.” Having reached the end of his shift at the hospital, Chavan was relieved by a woman constable, who took the disoriented family to Rajawadi Hospital around 7.30 pm. There, the mother refused to let the on-call doctor conduct a thorough examination, said Vidya Thakur, medical superintendent of Rajawadi Hospital. “The child underwent a check-up, but no detailed examination was conducted due to the parents’ opposition. By then, the parents had decided not to pursue the case. We cannot force a family or a victim to undergo a medical examination. We can’t say for sure if the girl had been sexually abused.” Thakur, however, pointed out that an FIR is not mandatory to begin treatment in a suspected sexual assault case. The flip-flop Possibly scared and tired of the ordeal, the family quickly changed its stance. It said the child had been scratched by a cousin while playing at home. “How could we file a report when we didn’t know for sure if the case fell under the POCSO Act? We eventually let the family go,” said a senior Shivaji Nagar police inspector. Sources said some police officials then alerted NGO Raahat, which works for children and women’s welfare and the rehabilitation of victims of sexual offences. Manoj Lohiya, additional commissioner of police (eastern region), called the incident a pitiable failure on the part of Sion Hospital. “It is the responsibility of the doctor to check the patient and admit her. Especially in cases under the POCSO Act, it’s necessary to ascertain sexual assault. I will have my officers look into the issue.” Audry D’mello from Raahat, too, rued the ignorance among doctors. “We have been counselling police officials to handle POCSO Act cases sensitively for the last four years. It’s clear that the family was pressured to change its stance because of the doctors at Sion Hospital. We are trying to locate the family and get the child medical aid.”
2016-04-01 10:46 By Sadaguru www.mid-day.com
27 Duterte camp: Administration in ‘panic mode’ MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon — The camp of Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte scoffed at President Benigno Aquino III’s recent verbal offensive against the candidate from Mindanao. Jun Evasco, the national campaign manager of Duterte, said Aquino’s recent comments showed that the administration is now “in panic mode as its bet, Mar Roxas, continues to suffer from one blunder to another.” “The barrage of criticism generated by the ridiculous characterization of Roxas as a typhoon Yolanda hero was just too much for Aquino to handle,” Evasco said. “Frightened, the President wants to deflect the attention of the public away from the shame.” READ: Duterte camp calls Roxas comic book ‘comical, pure fantasy’ Evasco said President Aquino and his anointed successor Roxas are very much alike–unable to handle stress well. In a campaign rally for Presidential candidate Mar Roxas in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Aquino criticized Duterte for saying he would resign from the presidency if he is not able to eradicate crime in three to six months. READ: Aquino takes up cudgels for Roxas But Duterte’s spokesperson Peter Laviña said the mayor has always maintained that his self- imposed deadline is not a cop-out or an easy way out but rather “a guarantee that something will be done about crime.” “Every time he makes that promise, he explains that it is a self-imposed deadline and a guarantee that he will start working against crime on day one of his administration,” Laviña said. Duterte has earlier said the three- to-six-month deadline is a “self-imposed deadline and a guarantee that something is already being done on day one of my administration.” “If I cannot solve the problem in three to six months, then not even ten years will be enough,” Laviña also said in his sorties, Duterte lays down a specific plan of action: he will order the police and the military to hunt down criminals and drug lords. “If they offer any resistance to arrest, the order is to kill them so as to protect innocent civilians,” Laviña said. And unlike the present administration, a Duterte administration will not sit on its promises, he added. CDG
2016-04-01 10:37 Nico Alconaba newsinfo.inquirer.net
28 Lionel Messi's auctions boots for charity; provokes outrage in Egypt Cairo: A charitable gesture by Argentinian football star Lionel Messi has provoked outrage in Egypt, where a lawmaker and football official took umbrage at the donation: his football boots. Lionel Messi Messi, in an interview with the private satellite channel MBC Misr, had donated his boots to the channel to auction them off for charity. "Messi, I really thank you," said the interviewer as she sat across from the Barcelona player, dangling his boots, in the segment aired on Saturday. Insulting act While no one would consider being hit with a shoe or boot, or being labelled a shoe a compliment, it is especially insulting in Middle East cultures. Donating boots, it emerged, was equally insulting to Egyptian member of parliament Said Hasasein, who attacked Messi on his television show. "This is my shoe," he said, holding up a beaten loafer. "I donate it to Argentina. "This is an insult to Egyptian people," he elaborated, thumping his fist on his desk. Egyptian Football Federation spokesman Azmi Mogahed phoned in to the show to express his outrage. "Even in our religion... " he began to say, when Hasasein interrupted: "His religion is Jewish! " Mogahed agreed. "I know he's Jewish, he donates to Israel and visited the Wailing Wall and whatever... we don't need his shoe and Egypt's poor don't need help from someone with Jewish or Zionist citizenship. " Some Egyptians criticised Messi, and his interviewer, on Twitter, using the hashtag "Messi's boot for the Egyptian people. "
2016-04-01 10:21 By AFP www.mid-day.com
29 Mumbai: ED attaches Rs 120-crore assets of NCP MLA Ramesh Kadam After veteran NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and his family, another party leader came under the scanner of ED which yesterday attached assets worth Rs 120 crore of sitting MLA Ramesh Kadam in a case of alleged embezzlement of over Rs 300 crore in a state-run corporation. Also read: ED files chargesheet in Maharashtra sadan case; names Chhagan Bhujbal, family Chhagan Bhujbal The ED alleged that Kadam, an MLA from Mohol in Solapur, along with other officials of the corporation allegedly misappropriated large amounts. "Kadam in collusion with the officials of the corporation and other accused persons hatched a conspiracy and misappropriated funds of the corporation which were given to various institutions for their own benefit and thus embezzled an amount to the tune of over R300 crore," the agency said. Also read: FIR against NCP MLA over alleged irregularities The ED registered a criminal complaint against Kadam and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in September last year based on an earlier FIR of the state CID in the said case.
2016-04-01 10:21 By Agencies www.mid-day.com
30 Campus Cricket: Rizvi down Podar to emerge city champions Rizvi College (Bandra) defeated RA Podar College (Matunga) to emerge champions in the Red Bull Campus Cricket in the City Round on Wednesday. After winning the toss and electing to bat against RA Poddar College at Vengsarkar Ground, Rizvi College posted 200-5 in 20 over. Rudra Dande scored 103 runs off 56 deliveries to take his team to a strong position. His innings was studded with 16 boundaries and a six. Chasing a total of 201, RA Poddar College managed to post 95-8.
2016-04-01 10:19 By A www.mid-day.com
31 NB controversy: Nick Young talks about women other than fiancee Iggy Azalea in video Los Angeles: Los Angeles Lakers rookie D'Angelo Russell apologized on Wednesday for secretly recording team-mate Nick Young talking about women other than Young's fiancee Iggy Azalea. D'Angelo Russell The video, which later appeared online, has reportedly caused a rift in the Lakers' locker room as the famed NBA franchise staggers toward the end of a disappointing season notable mostly as the farewell tour of superstar Kobe Bryant. "I feel as sick as possible," Russell, 20, told reporters before the Lakers' home game against the Miami Heat, which Lakers won 102-100. Situation out of control "I wish I could make things better right away, but I can't. " Russell said he didn't know how the video became public. "I reached out to (Young), let him know my apologies," Russell said. "I don't know if they were accepted. I wouldn't blame him. " Nick Young with fiancee Iggy Azalea. Pic/Getty Images ESPN.com reported that Russell had been given the cold shoulder by several teammates after the emergence of the video, in which Young — who is engaged to Australian rapper Azalea — talks about other women. An ESPN report cited unidentified sources with the Lakers as saying discord over the video was partly to blame for the team's 48-point drubbing by the Utah Jazz on Monday, the worst defeat in Lakers history. "It's bad. It's about as bad as it can get. There were trust issues already. Now there's no trust," one team source was quoted as saying. Team officials had reportedly chosen not to intervene in the situation. Young spoke briefly about the matter prior to Wednesday's game. "I don't want to get into my personal life right now," he said. "I think it's best that me and D'Angelo handle the situation we have in a private manner outside the media. "I think it's something we really do need to sit down and talk about. That's about it. What happened is what happened. We've got to work on it. " Azalea commented on Twitter on the video. "hmmm i see D Angelo Russell is trending... I actually liked his film. Thanks bro," Azalea tweeted. Lakers coach Byron Scott said Wednesday morning he hadn't spoken to Russell about the video. "I haven't talked to him, won't talk to him. That's an internal matter that our guys will deal with," Scott said. Asked on Wednesday evening if the Lakers would be able to move on from the incident, Scott said: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. "
2016-04-01 10:12 By AFP www.mid-day.com
32 Mohun Bagan coach's suspension reduced to 4 games New Delhi: The All India Football Federation yesterday reduced the eight-match suspension of Sanjoy Sen to four games after the Mohun Bagan coach tendered an unconditional apology to the apex body. Sen was earlier this month suspended for eight matches and slapped a fine of Rs 10 lakh for making derogatory statements against the national federation. The cheif coach had lashed out at the AIFF saying it has been "sold out" after his request for rescheduling of an I-League match in January was ignored by AIFF. "In view of the unconditional apology tendered by Mr. Sanjoy Sen both verbally and in form of an affidavit in addition to his undertaking that such incidents will not happen in future, the AIFF Appeals Committee which met at Football House on March 31, 2106, unanimously decided to reduce the penalty of suspension from 8 matches to 4 matches to be served consecutively," the AIFF said in a statement after a meeting of its Appeal's Committee. It added, "At the same time, the amount of fine has been reduced to 5 lakhs instead of 10 lakhs and it is to be deposited within 15 days from the date of communication. " Furthermore, on the issue of FC Goa's fine of 50 lakhs, the committee felt that it needs further clarification on the "issue of double jeopardy and jurisdiction of ISL" over this matter. Two days after taking action Sen, the AIFF Disciplinary Committee slapped a fine of Rs. 50 lakh on FC Goa for not attending the post match presentation ceremony of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) final on December 20, 2015. The case is now deferred for hearing to a later date. However, the committee has requested both AIFF and ISL to maintain status quo in the matter of hearing of the proceeding.
2016-04-01 10:02 By PTI www.mid-day.com
33 Mumbai: HC blasts Central and Western Railways for not being disabled-friendly The Bombay High Court yesterday blasted the Central and Western Railways for not making its trains and stations disabled friendly. File pic The court, while hearing a petition filed by India Center for Human Rights and Law over no basic facilities in the suburban railways for the disabled, criticised the railways for not meeting the December 31, 2015 deadline too in the matter. “In which part of the world do people die due to falling in gaps between platforms and trains. Why do you require a dozen orders to implement such basic things for the disabled,” observed the bench of Bombay High Court. The HC bench comprising Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Prakash Naik heard the case. The petition has demanded special toilets, grab handles, low-level windows, ramps on foot over bridges, low-level booking windows and water taps. “Who will take the responsibility of the people who are killed? The court wants you to comply with the orders within the next two months or face contempt notices,” Oka warned the railways. The court also asked railway counsel Suresh Kumar to bring undertakings from the general managers of both CR and WR on next Tuesday saying that they will make all stations disabled- friendly in the next two months. While Central Railways has been saying it is CIDCO’s job in Navi Mumbai, the court lambasted the CR by saying, “Don’t you take fare money from people in Navi Mumbai?”
2016-04-01 10:01 By Vinay www.mid-day.com
34 Pakistan JIT quizzes Salwinder, others in Pathankot attack New Delhi: Suspended Gurdaspur SP Salwinder Singh was among over a dozen witnesses questioned on Thursday at the NIA headquarters here by a visiting Pakistan team regarding the Pathankot terror attack. The Punjab Police officer, his cook Mandan Gopal, jeweller friend Rajesh Verma and other witnesses reached the National Investigation Agency (NIA) office where the Joint Investigation Team from Pakistan questioned them in the presence of NIA officials, informed sources told IANS. "Over a dozen people - including Salwinder - were questioned by the JIT today (Thursday)," the sources said, adding that the NIA had already questioned all of them several times. All the witnesses were reportedly under the agency's supervision for the past five days, the sources said. Punjab's superintendent of police has claimed that he, Verma and cook Gopal were abducted by four or five heavily armed terrorists near Punjab's Kolia village on January 2. The terrorists later attacked the Pathankot Indian Air Force base in which seven security personnel and the Pakistani terrorists were killed. The Pakistani team is in India to probe the Pathankot attack which, New Delhi says, was masterminded by Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar. On Monday and Tuesday, the NIA submitted the evidence to the five-member Pakistani team on the terror attack. According to NIA sources, the evidence shows that the Pathankot operation was planned by elements in Pakistan. The visiting team includes Inter Services Intelligence official Lt. Colonel Tanvir Ahmed and military intelligence officer Lt. Colonel Irfan Mirza.
2016-04-01 09:53 By PTI www.mid-day.com
35 CRPF hunts for mole who leaked troop info in Dantewada Raipur: The CRPF believes that information regarding the movement of its troops, killed in a deadly landmine blast in Dantewada, was "leaked" and it has begun a probe to find out the mole who could be from "within or outside" the paramilitary. A crater formed on the road as a result of a blast triggered by Naxals in an attack on a CRPF convoy at Malewada in Dantewada on Wednesday. PicPTI A senior CRPF official said that apart from a court of inquiry instituted into the incident, the force is also probing the role of a "suspect mole who can be from either from within the force or outside". "It is certain that the information about their movement was leaked. Somewhere or at some stage this has happened. The boys were doing a surprise non-operational movement and, hence, were in mufti. We are looking into it," CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said. Seven CRPF personnel were killed on Wednesday in a deadly landmine blast carried out by Naxals that also left a massive 4 ft deep crater on the road in the Dantewada district. The DG said the blast was "big" and it is suspected that about 50-60 kg of explosives could have been planted beneath the ‘pucca’ metalled road to trigger the explosives.
2016-04-01 09:49 By Agencies www.mid-day.com
36 Basketball legend Michael Jordan tops Forbes list of richest retired athletes Michael Jordan has retained his place at the top of Forbes' list of highest-paid retired athletes. Michael Jordan The former basketball star, who stopped playing in 2003, earned $110million last year (£76.5million) according to the American business magazine. Second on the list and up a place from 2015 is David Beckham, whose various endorsements pocketed him $65million (£45.2million).
2016-04-01 09:44 By PA www.mid-day.com
37 F1: Australia crash puts Fernando Alonso out of Bahrain GP
Double world champion Fernando Alonso will not take part in Sunday's Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix as the Spaniard is yet to fully recover from injuries sustained in his horrific crash in the season-opening race in Australia, he revealed yesterday. McLaren driver Fernando Alosno Alonso underwent tests at the medical centre at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit yesterday morning and was declared unfit to race on safety grounds. He later told reporters he was recovering from broken ribs and had also suffered a lung injury. "I had a small pneumothorax in the lung," Alonso told reporters. "The pneumothorax is gone more or less but I have some rib fractures, so because of that there are risks of driving because F1 is a very unique sport, unique position in the car and (because of) the G-forces, the fracture could move into the lungs. " Alonso walked away from the crash, in which his McLaren was launched into a horrific series of high-speed barrel rolls after contact with Esteban Gutierrez's Haas before eventually coming to rest against a barrier upside-down in a mangled heap. Though shaken, he was initially given all-clear by doctors and flew home to Spain. "Monday (after Australia GP), I had a little bit overall pain but nothing too serious," Alonso told reporters at the Sakhir circuit. "And then I flew back, I arrive in Spain and the pain was similar though a little bit more. " A subsequent CT scan then revealed the extent of his injuries. The 34-year-old's participation in the next race in China is in doubt and will depend on the outcome of another medical test scheduled in the coming days. "It's not 100 per cent. There will be another test that I need to do in the next eight or 10 days, so after that test the FIA will evaluate again as they did now. " McLaren reserve Stoffel Vandoorne will step in for Alonso this weekend. The 24-year-old Belgian is currently preparing for a season in the Japanese Super Formula series and will make his Grand Prix debut on Sunday. This is the second straight year that Alonso has been forced to miss a race. Last year, he sat out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after suffering a concussion in a mysterious accident in pre-season testing. Alonso left Ferrari to return to McLaren last year, but reliability and performance issues with new engine supplier Honda's power units left him and teammate Jenson Button mired at the back of the grid. The team have taken a step forward in competitiveness and reliability this year, however, with Button and Alonso qualifying just outside the top ten a fortnight ago in Australia. The Spaniard, who has won 32 races in his career, last stood on the top step of the podium nearly three years ago at his home Spanish Grand Prix.
2016-04-01 09:43 By Abhishek www.mid-day.com
38 Parrot lands on unsuspecting Australian TV reporter An Australian reporter had a shock when a parrot landed on her shoulder and would not let go, moments before she was due to go live. Nine Network News journalist Brittney Kleyn was heard telling amused colleagues that it "wasn't funny" and urging them to remove the creature. The parrot, called Lola, was later reunited with its owner Michelle Mills on Queensland's Gold Coast.
2016-04-01 09:43 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
39 Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu enter quarters; Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei ousted New Delhi: Defending champion Saina Nehwal and two-time World Championship bronze medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals but it turned out to be a dismal day for star shuttlers Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, who crashed out of the India Open Super Series here yesterday. PV Sindhu Sindhu was a little circumspect during the match and committed a few unforced errors before surpassing Thailand's Busanan Ongbumrungphan 17-21 21-19 21-16 in a women's singles match that lasted an hour and 16 minutes here. She will next take on Korea's Bae Yeon Ju, who beat Japan's Yui Hashimoto 21-16 21-10 in another match. Later in the day, Saina saw off Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand 21-19 21-14 to set up a clash with Korean fifth seed Sung Ji Hyun. However, the highlight of the day was the stunning losses of two-time silver medallist Lee Chong Wei and five-time World Championship Lin Dan, considered to be the biggest contenders for the Rio Games gold medal. While Korea's Son Wan Ho stunned the six-time All England champion Lin Dan of China, seeded fourth, 21-13 22-20, former World no. 1 Lee, top seed, suffered a 19-21 19-21 loss to Hong Kong's Wei Nan, ranked World No. 14. Two more top 10 players bite the dust in men¿s singles at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here. While Xue Song saw off Denmark Jan O Jorgensen, seeded 3rd, 21-18 15-21 21-14 to emerge as the only surviving Chinese in men's singles, Germany's Marc Zwiebler stunned Chinese seventh seed Tian Houwei, who had reached the finals of the All England Championship, 18-21 21-19 23-21 in a thrilling contest in the men's singles. Among other Indians, Rituparna Das sank without trace against fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 9-21 4-21 in just 21 minutes in a women's singles clash. In women's doubles, Mohita Sahdev and Sanjana Santosh defeated compatriot Ch Poornima and Rachita Sahdev 21-16 21-7. They will meet Japanese combo of Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao. Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy suffered a 19-21 12-21 loss to Chinese Taipei's Chen Hung Ling and Chi-Lin Wang, while Jishnu Sanyal and Shivam Sharma lost 17-21 15-21 to Chinese Taipei's Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin in another men's doubles match. Indian pair of Gauri Asaji and Karishma Wadkar also suffered an embarrasing 5-21 7-21 loss to top seeds Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii of Indonesia in women's doubles, while Manu and Ashwini Ponnappa also lost 10-21 17-21 to Chinese pair of Zhang Wen and Jia Yifan. After losing the opening match, Sindhu changed gears and nosed ahead to a slender 11-9 lead in the second game. From 14-11, the Thai girl started catching up with Sindhu after the Indian failed to connect a few strokes. One such miscued shot at the net took Busanan to 14-14 and she soon grabbed a couple more to have a 16-14 advantage. The Indian came up with a couple of smashes to draw parity at 17-17. With Busanan finding the net and then hitting wide meant Sindhu had a two-point lead at 20-18. The Indian hit one at the net but roared back into contest when her rival found the net. In the decider, Sindhu lagged 0-4 early on but she managed to grab six consecutive points to march ahead to a 6-4 lead. Sindhu stretched the lead to 10-7 but she blew it with Busanan entering the break with a 11-10 lead. After the interval, Sindhu started dominating the proceedings and grabbed an 18-15 lead before another wide shot broke the rhythm. A fierce rally then ended with an unforced error from the Thai player. Sindhu then grabbed the next two points when Busanan failed to connect a couple of strokes at the forecourt. "It was a close match and it is good to have a tough opponent early in the tournament because it helps you to adjust with the conditions. I was playing her after a long time and I made lot of unforced errors. I was leading and then giving away points. Even some line judgements were not right. I am happy to win and hope to play better tomorrow," Sindhu told reporters. Olympic bronze medalist Saina, who took the court in the later in the day, found the going tough initially against a spirited Jindapol as the duo engaged into a battle of attrition. Both moved neck and neck before a misjudged shuttle from Saina gave a slender 11-10 lead to the Thai girl at the break in the opening game. Jindapon continued to extend her lead before Saina clawed back at 15-15 with a powerful smash which her rival ended up buring at the net. the duo moved neck and neck till 19-19 before Saina grabbed the advantage with a soft return which Jindapon failed to negotiate. She then pocketed the game with a lightening smash. In the second game, Saina had found his bearing as she entered the break at 11-8 and never looked back. She continued her domination even as Jindapol crumbled. Among others, Second seed Kento Momota of Japan defeated Hong Kong's NG Ka Long Angus21-16 21-11, while Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus notched up an upset win over Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, seeded sixth, 21-12 21-12 in another men's singles match. In women's singles, Sixth seeded Chinese Wang Shixian saw off Japan's Sayaka Sato 19-21 21-11 21-14, while former world No. 1 Chinese Li Xuerui, seeded 3rd, went past a fighting Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 17-21 21-13 23-21 in a 54-minute clash.
2016-04-01 09:42 By PTI www.mid-day.com
40 Miami Open: Novak Djokovic overcomes back spasms to reach semis Miami: Top-ranked defending champion Novak Djokovic withstood back spasms throughout the second set on Wednesday to defeat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3 and reach the Miami Open semi-finals. Novak Djokovic reacts during his quarter-final match against Tomas Berdych in the Miami Open at Florida on Wednesday. Pic/AFP Djokovic, trying to match Andre Agassi's record of six Miami titles with his third in a row, will play Belgian 15th seed David Goffin today for a berth in Sunday's final. The Serbian won his 14th consecutive match at the hardcourt event and his 28th out of 29, but needed a gritty performance after back pain began early in the second set, prompting him to have massage therapy before serving in the sixth game. "Due to windy conditions on the court, it was hard to find a good rhythm to serve," Djokovic said. "I had a little bit of a spasm in the back but (the trainer) did a great job and I was able to finish the match. " Asked if he had any worries the spasms might become a long-term issue, Djokovic said: "No concerns. None at all. " On the women's side, reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, the second seed from Germany, and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advanced to semi-final showdown. Both have finals wins over top-ranked Serena Williams this year, Kerber at the Australian Open and Azarenka at Indian Wells.
2016-04-01 09:40 By AFP www.mid-day.com
41 PCB calls off its plans to host Afghanistan due to security Kabul: Pakistan has called off its plans to host the Afghanistan cricket team in April following last Sunday's suicide bombing in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 70 people. Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman, Amjad Bhatti, told The Associated Press today it was in negotiations with officials of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, "but now the tour is called off due to overall security situation in the country. " The PCB was planning to host Afghanistan for three one-day internationals in Lahore and Karachi and also a four-day game against Pakistan A. Azizullah Fazly, the executive director of the Afghan cricket team, said Pakistan had been asked to guarantee the teams' safety for the tour. He described the response of the Pakistan cricket authorities as "unacceptable". "We gave them another option, to hold the championship in Dubai, which would be good because many people from both countries live there," he said. "But we haven't yet received any response. " No major foreign Test-playing nation has toured Pakistan since terrorists attacked the Sri Lanka cricket team bus in Lahore in 2009. Last year, Zimbabwe played a short one-day series in Lahore.
2016-04-01 09:38 By AP www.mid-day.com
42 Karnataka Std XII paper leaks twice in 10 days Bengaluru: In a second shock for students in 10 days, the Chemistry paper of Std XII leaked in Karnataka again yesterday, prompting the authorities to cancel the exam and suspend 40 officials. Glass panes of the department of pre-university education building damaged in stone pelting as students and parents staged a protest in front of the building. Pic/PTI Hours before the rescheduled Chemistry exam was to begin, the department of pre-university education was alerted about the leak in two locations in the state, a development that affected over 1.74 lakh students. In a charged atmosphere, agitated parents and students gathered in front of the department of pre-university education (DPUE) building as a section of protesters pelted stones at it, damaging glass windows, police said. As the issue rocked the assembly with the opposition BJP members gunning for his resignation, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar announced the suspension of 40 officers and other staff in the pre-university department. "The CID is investigating the matter and the government is very serious about it. They are finding out who the culprits are — whether they are insiders or outsiders," said Home Minister G Parameshawara. Earlier, the March 21 Chemistry exam was cancelled and rescheduled for March 31 after a Std XII Science student blew the lid off the paper leak.
2016-04-01 09:38 By Agencies www.mid-day.com
43 WT20: When Ajinkya Rahane made the most of it in his first game... Why is Ajinkya Rahane not in Team India's playing XI during the ICC World T20 tournament? It's a question that puzzled cricket lovers. India batsman Ajinkya Rahane plays on the leg- side as West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin looks on during their semi-final match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera Finally, Rahane got his chance at Wankhede Stadium and he made the most of it by providing a firm foundation to the Indian innings. Rahane (40), who was playing his first match since the game against Pakistan in the Asia Cup T20 in Mirpur in February, played a confident knock with Rohit Sharma and then with Virat Kohli. Rahane, who replaced opener Shikhar Dhawan, rotated the strike by placing the ball in to the gaps with ease. At the end of five overs, he had scored 11 off 10 balls while Rohit scored 23 in 20 deliveries with the team's score reading 35. Rahane earned his first boundary in the fifth over of the innings bowled by Samuel Badree. While trying to play an inside out shot over the cover, he edged it towards the third-man boundary. At the end of the Powerplay, India had scored 55 for no loss in which Rohit contributed with 41 off 26 balls while Rahane scored 12 in 11 balls. The Mumbai man contributed well in two different partnerships, first with Rohit for an opening wicket stand of 62 in 7.2 overs and then with Kohli for the second wicket which reaped 66 runs in 50 balls. The opener got out while trying to slam Andre Russell's short-pitched delivery only to find Dwayne Bravo at the mid-wicket boundary. However, the India opener had played his role well and lived up to the fans' and more importantly, the team management's expectations with a strike rate of 114.28.
2016-04-01 09:35 By Subodh www.mid-day.com
44 Oscar Pistorius to be sentenced for Reeva Steenkamp's murder in June Johannesburg: Former Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius will face sentencing for murder in June. The 29-year-old faces a lengthy prison term after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier conviction of manslaughter and found him guilty of murder for his shooting of Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013. The South African double amputee sprinter's agent, Peet van Zyl, told Press Association Sport on Wednesday he expects sentencing to be from June 13-17. Pistorius insisted he thought his girlfriend was an intruder behind a toilet door in his home and was initially found guilty of culpable homicide, or manslaughter. However, that verdict was upgraded by South Africa's Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein in December. A 15-year prison sentence is the minimum punishment for murder in South Africa. However, the law allows for a lesser sentence to be imposed in exceptional circumstances and the time already served by Pistorius will likely be taken into account. The 'Blade Runner' was released in October 2015 after serving less than a year of his original five-year sentence, with the remainder to be completed under house arrest.
2016-04-01 09:26 By PA www.mid-day.com
45 WT20: Darren Sammy says Windies drew inspiration from U- 19 boys West Indies skipper Darren Sammy said they drew a lot of inspiration from the recent performance of their Under-19 team that won the World Cup and their women team's show this afternoon. Darren Sammy. Pic/AFP "We came here on a mission, we were inspired by the U-19 boys earlier this year, the ladies won earlier today, now we have two West Indies team in the final. We feel this is this West Indies team against everyone else. everyone said Chris is under pressure but I said it, we have 15 match- winners. Yesterday Charles, Simmons and Russell took that responsibility," Sammy said. Sammy said this win, that has taken them to the final, augurs well for the future of his team. "We knew it was going to be a massive step, against a very good India team, I must commend the whole team, we knew halfway they were 10 runs short. Even when we lost Gayle, Simmons just off the flight, he and Charles did it. I was just praying we win the toss, I surprised myself winning five out of five," he said.
2016-04-01 09:25 By PTI www.mid-day.com
46 CBS New York NEW YORK -- Now that a three-game stretch against a pair of non-contenders is over, the New York Islanders can shed the one-day-at-a-time cliches and admit the obvious: They knew they needed to collect six points in the three games. The Islanders achieved the objective Thursday in what has become a routinely white-knuckle fashion when center Anders Lee scored the game-winning goal early in the third period of a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Barclays Center. "Can't get too far ahead of ourselves," Lee said. "But at this point of the season, these are games that we need to win. "Three straight come-from-behind, one-goal wins over Metropolitan Division also-rans -- the Islanders beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in overtime Saturday and 2-1 in a shootout Tuesday -- has helped New York (42-25-9) cement its grip on the top wild card in the Eastern Conference and gain ground in the race for a top-three finish in the Metropolitan. "Looking back, I think it's good that we did get those points, because standings-wise, I guess you should win those games," said defenseman Thomas Hickey, who scored the Islanders' second goal in the first period. "But it's game by game right now. Really is. You can't underestimate anyone or disrespect anyone. "The Islanders lead the wild card race by six points over the ninth-place Detroit Red Wings and four points over the second wild card, the Philadelphia Flyers. They are also two points behind the third-place New York Rangers in the Metropolitan following the Rangers' 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes on Thursday. "It was an important few games for us here, I'm not going to lie to you," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "And it's the difference if you get (to the playoffs) or not. "The Islanders appeared on their way to a rare breather after they scored three unanswered goals to end the first period -- including tallies by Hickey and John Tavares in a 41-second span -- with a 3-1 lead. But Brandon Saad scored a power play goal with 4:12 left in the second and Boone Jenner tied the game 37 seconds into the third for the Blue Jackets. It was the second blown two-goal lead in three games for the Islanders, who squandered an early 2-0 lead against Carolina on Saturday. "The last three games were all we could handle," Hickey said. "Carolina plays hard and Columbus came back on us today. "The Islanders avoided overtime thanks to some choppy ice. Johnny Boychuk's slap shot bounced off the end wall and into the goalmouth, where the puck bounced off Lee's skate and under the legs of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. "Tight playoff race, third period goal, pretty lucky bounce," Lee said. "We'll take it and move on. "The Islanders' magic number for clinching a second straight playoff berth is any combination of five points gained by them or lost by the Red Wings. New York will find out how it fares against the top of the Eastern Conference over its next four games when it hosts the Pittsburgh Penguins (Saturday) and Tampa Bay Lightning (Monday) before visiting the Washington Capitals (Tuesday) and New York Rangers (April 7). "We're still building, we've still got a lot more (to do)," Tavares said. "Saturday will be a great test. "Thomas Greiss made 21 saves for the Islanders, including 11 in the third period and two during a power play that ended with 46 seconds remaining. Brandon Dubinsky scored in the first period for the Blue Jackets (30-39-8), who have lost four straight (0-4-0) and eight of 10 (2-8-0). With 68 points, Columbus is one point ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks (pending the Canucks' game Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks) in the "race" to avoid finishing last in the NHL. "I thought we settled the game down in the second period," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. Bobrovsky recorded 23 saves for the Blue Jackets. "I'm not going to get into the moral victories -- we lose another hockey game," Tortorella said. NOTES: The Islanders scratched C Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), G Jaroslav Halak (lower body) and D Marek Zidlicky (upper body) as well as RW Steve Bernier, LW Eric Boulton and D Ryan Pulock. ... Islanders D Travis Hamonic did not return after suffering a lower body injury in the first period. Entering Thursday, Hamonic led the Islanders' skaters in average ice time per game (24:07). ... The Blue Jackets scratched RW David Clarkson (lower body), G Curtis McElhinney (knee surgery), D Fedor Tyutin (undisclosed) as well as LW Rene Bourque and D Justin Falk, the latter of whom was recalled from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League on Thursday. In addition, RW Jared Boll served the final game of a four-game suspension for a late hit against Philadelphia RW Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on March 22. ... Blue Jackets LW Sonny Milano, a native of Massapequa on Long Island, played 13:26 in his NHL debut. The 19-year-old was recalled from AHL Lake Erie on Wednesday.
2016-04-01 07:10 The Sports scoresandstats.newyork.cbslocal.com
47 UK-US nuclear waste deal to 'help in cancer fight' David Cameron is to announce plans for the largest ever shipment of nuclear waste from the UK to the US. In return, the US will send a different type of used uranium to Europe where it will be used to help diagnose cancer. The BBC's James Landale said the PM's aim was to show that it is possible to think differently about how to dispose of nuclear waste. But Friends of the Earth said any transatlantic transportation of nuclear waste was a risk it advised against. Mr Cameron will travel to the US later to announce the agreement at a summit on civil nuclear security in Washington. He will tell world leaders that Britain will transport 700kg of highly enriched uranium to the US from the Dounreay storage facility in Scotland. Officials said this would be the largest ever such movement of nuclear waste, which the US has more capacity to store and process. In return, a different form of used uranium will be transported from America to the European Atomic Energy agency (Euratom) where it will be turned into radio isotopes that are used to detect and diagnose cancer. Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "Only the nuclear industry could think it was a good idea to risk swapping large quantities of one of the most dangerous materials on the planet across the Atlantic. "Nuclear waste should be dealt with as close to where it is produced as possible rather than risking transporting it in ships or planes. The consequences of an accident during transit would be horrific. " At the fourth Nuclear Security summit, to be chaired by US President Barack Obama, Mr Cameron will also announce Britain and the US are to hold a joint exercise to test both countries' ability to prevent cyber attacks on their nuclear stations and waste facilities. The prime minister will offer British expertise to countries including Japan, Turkey, South Korea and Argentina which have asked for advice on how best to protect their nuclear plants. And he will commit £10m to be spent on civil nuclear security worldwide. During the biennial summit, first held in 2010, heads of government will also consider their response to the nightmare scenario of terrorists creating and using a dirty bomb.
2016-04-01 07:50 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
48 1966: Owen and Heseltine go to Westminster I'm never happier than when rummaging around in the BBC archives. Most of it these days is on computer. In 1990, when I joined as a trainee in Bristol, regional television had only stopped using film the year before. With the help of our two great librarians at the time, among the hundreds of film cans, I discovered two programmes produced to mark a major event which took place 50 years ago this week, the general election held on 31 March 1966. "Seven for Westminster" and "Seven at Westminster" were broadcast a few months apart to viewers living in the west country and on the south coast. They did something which is common now but was quite unusual back then: identifying newly elected MPs and following them as they adjusted to their new life. Each was broadcast only once, and has never been seen since. Among the seven captured at the start of their parliamentary careers are David Owen, later Foreign Secretary and one of the defectors from Labour who founded the SDP, and the future Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine, who helped to bring down Margaret Thatcher. Armed with the archive of their younger selves I spoke to both of them. Film of the 27-year-old new MP with his parents in their garden brought back memories for Lord Owen of his father's unintended contribution to his career. David Owen secured the Labour nomination at a party meeting where, he says, Betty Boothroyd - later Speaker of the House of Commons - "made by far the best speech". A clutch of women members, though, reassured Owen they had voted for him anyway because they were patients of Dr Owen Senior. Still, he maintains he wasn't expecting to become an MP in 1966. It was only when, after a prime ministerial visit a week before polling day, an aide of Harold Wilson waved goodbye and said "see you in Westminster" as the train pulled out of Plymouth Station, that he realised his medical career was about to be interrupted. He says he only stopped looking at job adverts in the British Medical Journal after the 1979 election, when he finally accepted he wouldn't be going back. The second film includes pictures of David Owen posing on the steps of the Ministry of Defence with his new boss, a junior defence minister. When I asked Lord Owen about his rapid promotion, he told me it happened within days of his election, and the reason that he was chosen may have had something to do with the good dinner the minister received when he visited the constituency; apparently David Owen's father had been very generous with the Plymouth Gin. Whatever the explanation, Owen's appointment as a Parliamentary Private Secretary gave him the ear of ministers in a department whose decisions directly affected his constituents, many of whom worked in the dockyard at Devonport. "I can speak to anyone from the prime minister down," he told the interviewer in 1966. As for the restriction of party discipline - something he would strain against as Labour lurched leftwards after its election defeat in 1979 - the young Owen seems to have regarded it as part of the job. "I've got to accept the discipline of the group. This is politics; if you don't like compromise, don't become a politician. " In the light of his later defection to the SDP, I asked Lord Owen whether his view had changed. "No, I can honestly say not," he told me. He said his loyalty was to Labour values even as the party itself veered away from them. "I continued to represent the Labour cause until 1992 [the year he retired from the House of Commons] … social democrat was compatible with being Labour. " That will probably irritate quite a lot of members of the Labour Party who shared his outlook in 1981, but stuck with the party rather than join the SDP. "Do you still feel Labour? " I asked. "'Nearly' is the real human answer to that," he replied. Michael Heseltine never changed parties, but even in his earliest days as an MP there were signs of the independent streak that, for a while, would derail his political career. The new Member for Tavistock told the narrator of "Seven for Westminster" he was worried about "the sinister risk of compromise", of doing as the party wants rather than sticking to his own view. It's hard not to see these remarks through the prism of Lord Heseltine's cabinet resignation 20 years later, his leadership challenge to Mrs Thatcher, and, of course, the pro-European Union views, which on occasion left him looking isolated. "I'd forgotten it, but strongly subscribe to it," he says today. "I was not going to be a 'yes man'. " Despite their party differences, David Owen and Michael Heseltine had things in common; trying to maintain careers in London (one in medicine, the other in publishing), make their mark in Parliament and nurse constituencies hundreds of miles away. Lord Heseltine recalls journeys in a Morris or Austin car, crammed with his wife, three children, a cat and a bird in a cage. It took 10 hours to travel from London to Tavistock, his constituency on Dartmoor - "and the cat was sick". In the films, Heseltine, complete with trademark shoulder length hair, exudes confidence, speaking directly to the camera rather than the interviewer. Today, he admits that he didn't always feel in control. In one film, he is standing in a milking parlour, immaculate in a three-piece suit, hands clasped behind his back, earnestly attentive as the farmer explains about the risk of brucellosis. "I look," he says now, "like a man from Mars. " He says fitting in was important for a new MP, especially one who, as the narrator in 1966 drily observed, "is not a countryman". There is no doubt that the 32-year-old publishing boss did try to make an impression on his rural constituents - perhaps too hard. "Seven at Westminster" includes a glorious sequence of the young MP towing a caravan into a village with "Heseltine" emblazoned on its side. This was his mobile constituency surgery, an attempt to reach voters who would not otherwise be able to bring their problems to him. Half a century later, Lord Heseltine describes it as a "terrible, terrible mistake". People had turned out enthusiastically on his first visit, Lord Heseltine says, but by the third or fourth they had completely lost interest. Worse, he was stuck with it because he feared if he stopped the village visits, people would say "he's lost interest, he doesn't care, we never see him". Only when his seat was abolished in 1974 and he moved to Oxfordshire did he stop. "I didn't take the idea to Henley," he deadpans. In the two films from 1966, images of how elections used to be fought - the daytime declarations from town hall balconies, for example, because few were daft enough to declare results in the middle of the night - contrast with reminders of how little has changed. Dr Owen - "rather serious but one of Labour's rising stars", as he is described in one of the films - describes a feeling that would sound familiar to any MP today. "Overnight," he complained in 1966, "I went from being respected as a doctor to being regarded with cynical denigration. " Today, his view is somewhat different. "A very large number of people thought I'd gone down in the world and that upset me in a way. This is a very healthy thing in a democracy. "
2016-04-01 07:50 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
49 Bernie Sanders Holds Rally In The Bronx Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders arrives to attend a rally at the Saint Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 31, 2016. (Credit: Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images) Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally A supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders arrives to attend a rally at the Saint Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 31, 2016. (Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders arrives to attend a rally at the Saint Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 31, 2016. (Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally: Rosario Dawson Actress Rosario Dawson greets Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders's supporters during a campaign rally at the Saint Mary's Park in Bronx on March 31, 2016. (Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at an overflow of a rally at St. Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 3, 2016. (Photo by Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images) Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders addresses a campaign rally at the Saint Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 31, 2016. (Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at an overflow of a rally at St. Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 3, 2016. (Photo by Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images) Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders addresses a campaign rally at the Saint Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 31, 2016. (Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at an overflow of a rally at St. Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 3, 2016. (Photo by Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images) Bronx Bernie Sanders Rally NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 31: Democratic Presidential Candidate Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally at St. Mary's Park in the Bronx borough March 31, 2016 in New York City. Sanders and opponent Hillary Clinton are campaigning ahead of the April 5 primary in New York. (Photo by Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images)
2016-04-01 08:23 cbsloc.al
50 Luke Watson gets lifeline at Bulls Cape Town - Former Kings and Springbok loose forward Luke Watson’s career received a shock lifeline on Friday, April 1 after he signed a short-term Super Rugby deal at the Bulls. Watson’s career has been in limbo recently after not receiving a contract from SA Rugby to play for the Kings in this year’s tournament. The 32-year-old Watson, who has struggled with injuries over the last few seasons, was one of the Kings players not offered a contract by SA Rugby and it appeared his career was over. However, a reliable source confirmed to Sport24 that the Pretoria-based franchise said they'd be "foolish" to turn down Watson. The official announcement is expected to be confirmed no later than 12:00 on Friday, April 1. Watson, a former Stormers and Bath player, played 10 Tests for the Springboks between 2007 and 2008.
2016-04-01 08:30 www.sport24.co.za
51 ‘Save Beaucatcher’ group says Asheville citizens are being lied to Helen’s Bridge Bothwell weighs in on side of anti-greenway movement By Roger McCredie- Spokespersons for a group of citizens who oppose plans for developing a greenway on Beaucatcher Mountain are now accusing city employees and others of lying to cover up the potential damage that constructing one could cause. Meanwhile dueling petitions are circulating, one urging Asheville City Council to give final approval to completion of the project and the other asking that it be discarded altogether. And Councilman Cecil Bothwell has added his voice to the greenway opposition, saying he will “do all I can” to prevent the greenway, in its contemplated form, from happening. It’s all unfolding as council prepares to take up the issue at its April 12 meeting. The “Beaucatcher Corridor,” which is intended to serve as the greenway’s footprint, begins at the parking lot above McCormick Field and meanders northward, uphill, over, and then down again, ending at Helen’s Bridge. It is the final link in the “River to Ridge” greenway network, a necklace of hiking and bike paths, in various stages of completion, running in a counterclockwise semicircle from the banks of the French Broad to Beaucatcher, which forms the eastern shoulder of central Asheville. Much of the corridor comprises a generations-old hiking trail through what many agree is the last section of wild woodland within the city limits. Proponents say the Beaucatcher greenway would be a jewel in the city’s crown, affording superb hiking and bicycling as well as spectacular views of downtown. Conservationists say it would ravage the hillside forest, scar the landscape, and obliterate irreplaceable old-growth trees. Property owners fear its proposed ten-foot asphalt roadbed would cause catastrophic stormwater runoff, resulting in mudslides and flooding. Critics of city government see it as another example of reckless disregard for the consequences of pushing through a pet project. On February 29, a group of environmentalists and Beaucatcher property owners calling themselves “Friends of Beaucatcher Mountain” began circulating an online petition calling for city council to reconsider its existing set of plans for the Beaucatcher Greenway. The petition was started by Lisa Bakale-Wise, an attorney from New York by way of New Orleans, and her fiancé, Will Spoon, a native of Black Mountain. The two became aware of the proposed Beaucatcher Greenway development when they bought a house on White Pine Drive, adjacent to the greenway acreage. “For eight months,” their petition’s preamble states, “community members have suggested viable options that accomplish the same goals faster, cheaper, with less environmental damage, and with community support instead of opposition. Asheville Parks refuses to conduct any environmental impact assessment by qualified professionals.” The petition had collected 479 signatures as of March 27. Meanwhile, on March 15, Dana Davis, a member of Asheville’s Parks and Greenways Commission, launched a counter-petition in support of the plan. Davis’ petition, which has 845 signatures through March 29, is aggressively dismissive of the Friends’ petition, decrying “misinformation” and setting forth a list of rumor-versus-fact points. The first of those points claims that “only a dozen trees” will be removed to make way for the greenway’s southern trailhead, as opposed to the 82 trees, many of them old-growth, the Friends of Beaucatcher say are doomed. But the city’s own tree removal spreadsheet, incorporated in the Beaucatcher Greenway plans, does in fact show a total of 82 trees scheduled for removal at the time the Friends’ petition was started, and revisions put that number at 135. Several trees, mostly oaks, have diameters of between 25 and 28 inches. According to Department of Commerce calculations, an oak tree with a 25” diameter is roughly 125 years old. “All we have put forward are the facts that we took from source documents provided by the project planners,” Spoon told the Tribune . “The [pro-greenway petition’s] 800 signatures [are the] product of misleading information and a powerful PR effort from the many people involved in the project; we have a very small network and limited resources in comparison.” Davis had not replied to the Tribune’s invitation to respond by press time. Spoon also flatly stated that City of Asheville Greenways Coordinator Lucy Crown “lied about the number of trees to be removed” in an article published in the Asheville Citizen-Times on March 15. In that article, Crown is quoted as saying, “much less than 82 trees” would be cleared for the greenway. But Crown told the Tribune Tuesday that she was misquoted in the Citizen-Times article. “In all 135 trees are due to be cut along the whole greenway site,” she confirmed, but only 12 are to be cut at the southern trailhead site. That’s where that twelve trees figure came from. I was misquoted in that article.” Enter Councilman Bothwell, who says he is concerned about the loss of trees but even more concerned about the overall impact that installing a greenway may have on Beaucatcher Mountain, period. Earlier this month Bothwell said he was “shocked” by the methodology the city intends to use in constructing the Beaucatcher Greenway. He outlined his objections in a guest editorial in the Citizen-Times on March 27, as follows: — Stairs at both ends of the greenway “make any claim for ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliance laughable and throw into question the whole rationale” for installing a paved roadbed along and over the ridge. — The paving will cost about $500,000, which is due to come out of the city’s stormwater fund at a time when flooding and erosion repair are already straining stormwater resources. “Do we want to create and correct a new set of problems before addressing existing ones?” Bothwell asked. — For that matter, the projected cost of the Beaucatcher project is $3 million, double the old rule of thumb of $1 million per mile. Bothwell told the Tribune , “The go-ahead for this project was approved before any of us currently on Council were elected. I had only the vaguest idea about the specific plans until they were brought to my attention recently by constituents. “There has been no real examination of the plan by the current Council up to now,” he said. “After touring the site and examining the engineering drawings I began to voice concern, first with my fellow Council members and the Parks and Recreation Department … I felt that some of the serious design flaws deserved close scrutiny before we put the plans out for bid [on April 12]. “Mountain True ecologist Bob Gale has toured the proposed route twice and voiced some deep concerns about the damage that will be inflicted on numerous old trees.” He added. Bothwell seemed to indicate that as things stand, the Beaucatcher Greenway proposal may indeed go back to the drawing board. “I can’t speak for other Council members but I believe there are 4 votes questioning the plan as presented,” he told the Tribune .
2016-04-01 08:21 www.thetribunepapers.com
52 This Week in Pictures: Top Photos from Around the Globe Tulips are seen in full bloom at a garden in the outskirts of Srinagar, India, March 31, 2016. Kashmir, known for its mountains, lakes, forests and moderate weather was one of Asia's most popular tourist destinations until a Muslim separatist movement broke out in the region in 1989 claiming thousands of lives.
2016-03-31 19:00 ABC News abcnews.go.com
53 This is only the beginning: Nate Silver explains how Donald Trump has “hacked the system” and created a roadmap for future political con men Topics: Elections 2016 , Republican Party , Donald Trump , Nate Silver , Herman Cain , Sarah Palin , Elections News , News , Politics News Donald Trump has a gift for managing news cycles. If his bloated head contains a spark of genius, this is where it shines. Trump understood as far back as 2013 what it would take to execute a political con of this scale: work the media, create controversy, become an impossible- to-ignore circus. This is what Trump meant when he said “it’s about the power of the mass audience.” He’s approached his campaign in the same way a producer would approach a reality TV show. It’s about spectacle, really. “They will never take the lights off of me,” Trump told a group of incredulous Republicans who didn’t believe he could run for president without paid advertising. He was obviously correct: We haven’t taken the lights off of him, and doing so is unthinkable at this point, given his position in the race. On Wednesday, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com dove a little deeper into the Trump coverage, trying to understand how this happened. “Trump has been able to disrupt the news pretty much any time he wants,” Silver wrote, “whether by being newsworthy, offensive, salacious or entertaining. The media has almost always played along.” Of course, the press has played along – it can’t do otherwise. A corporatized media has turned citizens into consumers, and politicians into products. Trump understands this and he acts accordingly – it’s really quite simple. His whole career has been about brand management, which is now all the training a national politician needs. Trump’s media-centric strategy has been wildly successful. He’s received what amounts to $1.9 billion in TV coverage despite having spent only $10 million on paid advertising. “By contrast,” Silver notes, “Trump’s Republican rivals combined have received slightly less than $1.2 billion worth of television coverage, meaning that Trump has been the subject of the clear majority (62 percent) of candidate-focused TV coverage.” Silver’s broader conclusion is that Trump has “hacked the system,” which is to say he’s exploited a broken process with a perverse incentive structure. He writes:
2016-03-31 18:59 Sean Illing salon.com.feedsportal.com
54 Pig's heads found on fence at Moroccan ambassador's Paris home Paris - Two pig's heads were found on Thursday attached to the fence of the Moroccan ambassador's residence in a chic suburb of the French capital, police said. "The pig's heads were discovered by security staff on Thursday at 09:00. The ambassador was present," a police source told AFP. The embassy, situated in Neuilly-sur-Seine to the west of Paris, has filed a formal complaint to police. "We don't want to interpret this act, it's up to the authorities to investigate," an embassy official said. Anouar Kbibech, head of the French Council for the Muslim Faith (CFCM) and the Morocco-linked Group of Muslims in France (RMF), said there was an "unhealthy atmosphere" in France "in which Muslims are the target of acts of stigmatisation". "The attack on the ambassador's residence shows that this provocation has moved up a level," Kbibech said. "This latest desecration is aimed at the embassy of a country which is an ally of France, engaged in the prevention of radicalisation and the fight against terrorism," he added. Pig's heads have been left outside mosques in several French cities in recent years and a rise in anti-Muslim acts was recorded in the wake of the gun and suicide attacks on Paris in November last year which left 130 dead.
2016-04-01 08:18 www.news24.com
55 Will tomorrow's smart office be a saviour or a spy? Over the next six weeks the BBC will examine how our built environment is changing. Tomorrow's Buildings will look at how technology is making our offices smarter, our homes more affordable and even transforming building sites. Ask someone what they dislike about working in an office and the list will probably be long. It is likely to include: workload, the boss, colleagues, uncomfortable chairs, lack of light, no decent food in the canteen and Arctic air-conditioning. Technology may soon be able to ease the last of these, offering a better working environment by allowing workers to control their heating via a smartphone app. But does that come at a price? Do the sensors that are increasingly making the office environment smarter also mean that workers are under constant surveillance? Welcome to the brave new world of the smart office. Research firm Gartner predicts that commercial buildings will have more than 500 million "connected things" during 2016. The biggest driver for this is to improve energy efficiency - currently commercial buildings account for 40% of the world's electricity consumption. By embedding hundreds of sensors in walls, ceilings or even lights, the systems that keep the office running smoothly can be connected and in turn these building management systems (BMS) can be connected to the corporate network and the internet. At Deloitte's headquarters in Amsterdam, workers can control the lights, heating and blinds via an app, while in London building consultant Arup is experimenting with smart desks - embedding sensors in them and hooking them up to smartphone apps to allow people to control lighting and heating. Smarter systems offer huge potential energy savings - estimates range between 20% and 50%. "A staggering amount of energy is wasted on heating empty offices, homes and partially occupied buildings," said Carlo Ratti, who heads up the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Senseable Cities lab. His team is working on a project that measures the number of people in a building and adjusts heating and lighting accordingly - with a view to turning an empty building "off", just like a computer goes into standby mode when not in use. He is also working on localised heating and cooling systems, which can provide a precise, personal climate for each occupant using "an array of responsive infrared heating elements that are guided by sophisticated motion tracking". "Individual thermal 'clouds' follow people through space, ensuring ubiquitous comfort while improving overall energy efficiency," he explained. That will appeal to anyone who has complained about the air conditioning and comes amid mounting evidence that people do require different temperatures - women, for instance, feel comfortable in heat that is several degrees higher than the ambient temperature preferred by men, according to a study from Dutch scientists last year. Smarter lighting or heating is all well and good when it works but, like most technology, it isn't always fit for purpose. Doug King, a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering and expert on smart buildings, told the BBC: "There are lots of apocryphal stories about lighting systems being over-ridden by cleaners who don't want to clean in the dark or tales that, if one person is working late, the lights remain on in large parts of the buildings. "People will do what they have to do to get their jobs done in the level of comfort they need and that may mean hacking the building. They may shut off the systems by sticking Sellotape over the sensors or the building maintenance staff may reset the controls because they simply become fed up with all the complaints. " A case, perhaps, of smart building versus smart human. Concerns about the smart lighting not working could pale into insignificance next to the wider question about what data all the hidden sensors around a building are collecting. Architect Rem Koolhaas has spoken out against the way technology is infiltrating buildings, saying it is "totally astonishing" that people are willing to sacrifice their privacy for convenience and describing the rise of smart systems as "potentially sinister". He told Dezeen magazine that the use of smart technologies represented the most radical shift in architectural practice for over a century - architects had become too distracted by the benefits and overlooked the dangers. Most building data is currently collected anonymously but that doesn't mean it could not be used for other purposes. "You could imagine using data from a building management system to find out when someone is in the office and when they are not," said Mr King. British newspaper the Daily Telegraph did just that earlier this year, fitting under-desk sensors to measure occupancy with a view to using the data to make the office more energy-efficient. Staff did not see it quite that way, reacting with anger - while the National Union of Journalists described it as "surveillance" and the trial was hastily withdrawn, just a day after it had been announced. It illustrates the fact that smart buildings may mean very different things to different people. On the one hand is the landlord, who wants to make savings on energy and other costs, and on the other are the people who live and work in those buildings and may not appreciate being monitored during their working day - even if it is done anonymously. We need to make sure technology is serving the people who work in such buildings, thinks Arup's director of architecture Nille Juul-Sorensen. "We have to start with the humans, putting people first and then the technology that can help them," he said. And Mr King said there were ways of using data to help usher in a new era of smarter design. "Ten years ago we were just guessing but now there is an awful lot more data about ways people are using buildings which can be fed back to improve the next ones," he said. Increasingly, firms such as Deloitte and Arup are using technologies such as virtual reality to give potential clients an idea about how a building will look before they move in. Ultimately, thinks Mr Juul-Sorensen, designers need to start asking even more radical questions about how we will work in future - is it, for instance, smart to even have an office at all in an era when the internet can connect people in different parts of the world? "The way we work is very different from 20 years ago and yet we are still basing our design on the old days and then building in a lot of technology. We are designing for the past not the future," he said. Read more at bbc.co.uk/tomorrowsbuildings
2016-03-31 18:55 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
56 Yahoo - Introducing Fair Play on Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy Yahoo Launches Key Changes in Daily Fantasy to Help Level the Playing Field for Fans Including Entry Limits, Labeling of Veteran Players and No Scripting --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced important changes to its Sports Daily Fantasy product to make contests more transparent and fun for all users. Changes include limiting entries to a max of 10 entries per user per contest (and in no event can a single user's entries make up more than 1% of total entries in a contest), clearly identifying Veteran players with a badge, and prohibiting the use of any type of scripting tool to upload or edit entries. "We first launched Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy back in because it was an exciting addition to our product suite and because our users were clamoring for it," said , Head of Product for and Finance. "Yahoo Fantasy Sports has tens of millions of registered fans and we are making these changes today as the result of months of user experience and customer requests. values an environment that is transparent and trustworthy. We also want to provide the best Fantasy games for true sports fans. does both. " As daily fantasy continues to evolve, the labeling of a small percentage of "Veteran" players with a distinct badge is a key change that will make it easier for all players to know who they are playing against on Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy. Veterans will be defined as users who have entered more than 1,000 contests within a single year, or who have entered more than 250 contests and prevailed in greater than 65% of them within a single year, or who have won a single prize of or greater more than three times within a single year. As a thank you to those users who have been so dedicated to Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy, will be inviting Veterans to a special, free, invitation-only contest. has been a leader in fantasy sports for over 17 years. The changes made today will continue the tradition of fun and social user experiences that fans have come to expect from. is a guide focused on informing, connecting, and entertaining our users. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. is headquartered in , and has offices located throughout the , (APAC) and the , and (EMEA) regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company's blog (yahoo.tumblr.com).
2016-04-01 07:09 investor.yahoo.net
57 Yahoo - Yahoo Appoints Two New Board Members --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced that its board of directors has increased its size from seven to nine directors and appointed the following two new independent directors, effective . With the additions of Cathy and Eric, the board returns to the size it was on , prior to the resignations of and Charles Schwab. "Eric and Cathy are both highly respected, experienced practitioners in their fields, and we welcome them to Yahoo's board of directors," said , chairman of the board at. "Today we are at an important juncture in Yahoo's transformation, as we execute on our refined strategy and explore strategic alternatives for the company. " "Today we are expanding our board of directors with additional expertise to help advance our strategic goals as continues its transformation. We are pleased to welcome and to our board," said , CEO of. "I am honored to join the board of a company I have observed and admired over the course of my career," said. "As the technology landscape continues to change, I am excited to work with the board and management during this important time. " "I am delighted to have the privilege to serve on the board. The opportunity to work with my fellow directors and the management team to guide into its next chapter is exciting," said Ms. Friedman. held numerous positions over a 23-year investment banking career with Morgan Stanley, including Managing Director and Head of and Co-Head of the Biotechnology Practice, where she was strategic and transaction advisor to many of the most important companies in the sector. Friedman is a director of XenoPort, Inc., EnteroMedics Inc., GSV Capital Corp., Innoviva, Inc. (formerly Theravance, Inc.), and Radius Health, Inc. served as the Chief Financial Officer of until its acquisition by Avago in February of this year, the President and Chief Executive Officer of , and as the Chief Financial Officer of Brandt also served as Vice President and Partner at. Brandt is a director of Lam Research Corporation and Dentsply Sirona Inc. is a guide focused on informing, connecting, and entertaining our users. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. is headquartered in , and has offices located throughout the , (APAC) and the , and (EMEA) regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company's blog (yahoo.tumblr.com).
2016-04-01 07:09 investor.yahoo.net
58 Yahoo - Yahoo Statement Regarding Starboard Announcement --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- today noted Starboard Value LP's announcement of its intention to nominate nine director candidates for election to Yahoo's Board of Directors at the company's 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The Board's will review Starboard's proposed director nominees and respond in due course. Additional Information and Where to Find It (the "Company"), its directors and certain executive officers are participants in the solicitation of proxies from stockholders in connection with the Company's 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "Annual Meeting"). The Company plans to file a proxy statement (the "2016 Proxy Statement") with the (the "SEC") in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the Annual Meeting. , , , , , , , Jr., , Ph. D. and , Jr., all of whom are members of the Company's Board of Directors, and , Chief Financial Officer, are participants in the Company's solicitation. Other than , none of such participants owns in excess of 1% of the Company's common stock. may be deemed to own approximately 7.5% of the Company's common stock. Additional information regarding such participants, including their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be included in the 2016 Proxy Statement and other relevant documents to be filed with the in connection with the Annual Meeting. Information relating to the foregoing can also be found in the Company's definitive proxy statement for its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "2015 Proxy Statement"), which was filed with the on. To the extent that holdings of the Company's securities have changed since the amounts printed in the 2015 Proxy Statement, such changes have been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the. Promptly after filing its definitive 2016 Proxy Statement with the , the Company will mail the definitive 2016 Proxy Statement and a WHITE proxy card to each stockholder entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE 2016 PROXY STATEMENT (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT THE COMPANY WILL FILE WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Stockholders may obtain, free of charge, the Company's preliminary proxy statement, any amendments or supplements thereto and any other relevant documents filed by the Company with the in connection with the Annual Meeting at the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov). Copies of the Company's definitive proxy statement, any amendments or supplements thereto and any other relevant documents filed by the Company with the in connection with the Annual Meeting will also be available, free of charge, at the Company's website (http://info.yahoo.com) or by writing to Investor Relations, , , 94089. In addition, copies of these materials may be requested, free of charge, from the Company's proxy solicitor, , , 20th Floor, 10022 or (212) 750-5833. is a guide focused on informing, connecting, and entertaining our users. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. is headquartered in , and has offices located throughout the , (APAC) and the , and (EMEA) regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company's blog (yahoo.tumblr.com).
2016-04-01 07:09 investor.yahoo.net
59 Bailey Gwynne case: Schoolboy killer to be sentenced A teenager who stabbed a 16-year-old to death in an Aberdeen school is due to be sentenced. Bailey Gwynne died after being stabbed in the heart at Cults Academy last October. His 16-year-old killer - who cannot be named for legal reasons - had denied murder but was convicted of the lesser charge of culpable homicide . He will be sentenced by Lady Stacey at the High Court in Edinburgh, starting at 09:30. The fight began after an argument about a biscuit. A jury at the High Court in Aberdeen took an hour and 40 minutes to find him guilty in March. Following the verdict, Bailey's mother said the outcome of trial would not bring her "beloved" son back. The youth was also found guilty of two further charges of having a knife and knuckleduster in school. Aberdeen City Council said the case had been "devastating" for the families affected and staff and pupils at Cults Academy. The findings of an independent review into the circumstances surrounding the death of Bailey Gwynne are expected to be published in September. BBC Scotland revealed concerns about the killer were voiced nine years ago when, as a primary pupil, he threw rocks at another child. The incident resulted in the victim being treated for concussion.
2016-04-01 07:08 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
60 Newspaper headlines: Steel future, Ronne Corbett, Zaha Hadid, April Fool The future of the British steel industry and the death of entertainer Ronnie Corbett make the front pages. The Times says Tata warned a Commons committee only weeks ago that UK support for Chinese steel could result in an "even greater crisis". Tata has said it plans to sell its UK business, plunging the British steel industry into turmoil. "Senior Tata officials are said to be amazed at the prime minister's failure to heed their warnings that China would dump cheap steel on the market, undercutting Britain," says the Times. "EU officials are also privately critical of Britain over its reluctance to raise tariffs for China, which it has been wooing to try to generate better trade links. " The Telegraph reports that David Cameron called into question the future of the British steel industry by saying there was "no guarantee" the government could save Tata's UK plants. "It came as Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, faced intense criticism from Labour after it emerged that he took his daughter with him on a trip to Australia while the country's steel industry was in crisis," the Telegraph continues. The Guardian reports that Mr Javid will travel to the Port Talbot steelworks, the UK's biggest, to try to reassure its 4,000 workers about their jobs. The paper says: "It is understood senior Whitehall officials have contacted Liberty House, a steels and metals group with an annual turnover of close to £5bn, which is in the process of buying unwanted sites in Scotland. "Private equity companies, which would be likely to undertake radical cost-cutting steps, are also being approached. " European Steel Association chief Axel Eggert tells the Financial Times that the UK was the "ringleader" in preventing a European Commission proposal on the "modernisation of Europe's trade defence instruments". The FT says: "The government has already been accused of currying favour with China and has argued that Beijing should be recognised as a market economy within the World Trade Organisation this summer. "British officials point out that cheaper steel has benefited other manufacturers, such as the car industry. " Sky News economics editor Ed Conway writes in the Times that the steel industry is bucking the trend of weak productivity in the British economy. "Perhaps this is what makes its slow-motion implosion so traumatic: it is hardly as if the industry is torpid," he says. "In Britain and most of the developed world it is hard to find another example of a slimmer, more efficient business. " The Telegraph's Fraser Nelson says that although it might not be much comfort, the steelworkers of Port Talbot can at least be confident that their fate is being treated as a national emergency. "Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, has been summoned back from Australia for crisis talks," he writes. "David Cameron is mulling direct intervention to save Tata's giant plant. "Some 1,000 jobs are at stake, most in a part of Wales unlikely to recover easily from such setbacks. To hear Tories even discussing nationalisation gives an idea of the scale of the panic. " Martin Kettle in the Guardian argues that industrial policy can no longer be treated as a relic of the 20th Century. He says: "The answer to the Tata Steel sell-off is not nationalisation, at least as it is traditionally understood, but state action. This is not a semantic difference. Permanent nationalisation wouldn't work and it won't happen. "State action, on the other hand, covers everything from temporary nationalisation of the Tata assets to keep the plants functioning, to loans and guarantees, to aid on business rates, energy costs and end-user contract stipulations. " Mark Steel in the i says : "Some people have pointed out that other industries were bailed out by governments in the past - but this has only been if they've produced essentials goods, such as hedge funds and executive bonuses, not frivolities like the stuff that makes ships and teaspoons. " "...and it's goodnight from him". That is the catchphrase from The Two Ronnies that many of the papers employ to mark the death of Ronnie Corbett. Describing him as one of the nation's best-loved entertainers, the Telegraph says Corbett was to have been knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours List after a discreet campaign led by his fellow comedian David Walliams. Comedian Miranda Hart writes in appreciation: "As our beloved Ronnie Corbett was on prime- time television in the late-70s and 80s, regaling us with his trademark jokes on being small ('I'm so short, I'm the only citizen in the UK with a full-length photo in their passport!'), I was growing up. "And some of my happiest memories of growing up were watching The Two Ronnies with the family. Even if I didn't quite get a joke I would continue to chortle away watching my dad in an uncontrollable state as tears of laughter poured down his face. "What a gift Ronnie gave me, my family and a nation. " The Telegraph comments that Corbett deserved to be knighted given his service to the entertainment industry and his dedication to charity work, particularly his fundraising golf events. In the Guardian , Mark Lawson reflects on the career of Corbett. "Nobody who was part of another TV duo in the era of Morecambe and Wise can be remembered as the very best of their profession," he writes. "But Barker and Corbett ran their rivals very close as a pair and, individually, outstripped them. And that, as Ronnie Corbett was happy to acknowledge towards the end of his life, marked a career and a life well-lived. " The Mail comments : "Honours are conferred on countless cronies and less worthy celebrities. That he never became Sir Ronnie is a terrible indictment of our hopelessly corrupted system. " In an opinion piece, the Express says : "The diminutive comedian spent decades making us laugh, in the process becoming one of the nation's most treasured performers. "He may be gone, but we will be chuckling over his jokes for years. " The Sun says Britain has got a little less funny, while the Mirror says he will be remembered with a smile on our lips. The papers also report the death of renowned architect Dame Zaha Hadid at the age of 65. "Born in Iraq, Hadid enjoyed as much success abroad as she did in Britain, but was especially proud of the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics," says the Times . The Telegraph describes her as a gravity-defying visionary who revelled in the spectacular and controversial. Oliver Wainwright in the Guardian writes : "Over her 30-year career, the maverick architect Zaha Hadid developed a style more recognisable, and more imitated, than any of her contemporaries, transforming what began as a world of dreamy abstract paintings into a global brand for daring art galleries and experimental opera houses that now dot the globe from Baku to Guangzhou. "An unparalleled queen of the curve and conjuror of sinuous, billowing forms, in her best buildings the laws of physics appear momentarily suspended. "Walls melt into floors, ceilings ripple and bulge, facades dissolve into perforated skins and flowing veils. "To admire her genius, you had to forgive her shortcomings. The world of architecture would certainly have been duller without her. " Finally, on April 1st, no one should be fooled by the Telegraph's front page story about England being kicked out of the Euro 2016 football championship if the UK votes to leave the European Union. The paper claims that England's hopes of winning the tournament were thrown into "turmoil" after joint French and German objections. Wales and Northern Ireland would be affected, too. The paper quotes former Germany midfielder "Jurgen Loos" as saying: "Solidarity is a core principle in Europe, and this is true in the great game of football no less than trade or politics. "If Britain leaves, then we should be clear: out means out. " And the author of the piece? Rollo Piaf.
Tata Steel UK: What are the options? bbc.co.uk 2016-04-01 07:08 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
61 Tata Steel: Sajid Javid to visit Port Talbot steelworkers Business Secretary Sajid Javid is to meet Port Talbot steelworkers to insist the government is "on their side". Thousands of jobs could go after Tata Steel said it was selling its UK assets, including its Wales plant. The European Steel Association said the UK had been blocking an EU measure which would have tackled the "dumping" of cheap Chinese steel in Europe, which is partly being blamed for the crisis. But the government said it was doing everything it could. Ministers have argued against the European Commission proposal to lift the "lesser duty rule" cap, which would allow tougher tariffs to be imposed on cheap imported steel. Ministers argue that higher tariffs would hit other sectors such as the car industry. Tata Steel's UK business - which directly employs 15,000 workers and supports thousands of others - includes plants in Port Talbot, Rotherham, Corby and Shotton. Tata Steel UK: What are the options? What's going wrong with Britain's steel industry? What next for Tata Steel workers? Steel v banks - Why they're different when it comes to a government bail-out After a board meeting at its headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday, Tata confirmed plans to sell its loss-making UK plants. Unless a buyer can be found, thousands of jobs are at risk. The Port Talbot plant - which employs 4,100 people - is said to be losing £1m a day. Mr Javid, who has returned to the UK after cutting short an official trip to Australia, has been criticised for his absence during the crisis, and for taking his daughter on the trip. He will meet workers and managers at the plant, along with members of the Welsh Government and trade unions. They were "understandably anxious" about the future, he said. "I will listen to them, and I want to reassure them myself that the government is on their side in working hard to achieve a long-term solution for them, for the region and for the wider UK steel industry," he said. He added: "Whilst we can't change the status of the global steel market, we can and are playing a positive role in securing a sustainable future. " Mr Javid will be accompanied on the visit by Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns, and is to promise that the government will appoint independent advisers once Tata begins the formal sales process. He will also promise a cross-Whitehall response, working with Treasury minister Lord O'Neill, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Letwin and Mr Cairns, as well as the Welsh government, to find a buyer for Tata Steel's assets. Both he and the prime minister have said nationalisation is "not the answer" for British steelworks. But union and opposition figures have criticised the government for failing to do enough to respond to the issue. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said the UK was in the grip of an "industrial crisis of enormous proportions". He called for the creation of a steel taskforce and for the government to intervene to save the steel industry like it did the banks during the financial crisis, saying EU state aid rules had not prevented Italy or France from "protecting" their steel industries. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the government "should nationalise to stabilise", saying this would involve covering the plant's costs in the short term to help a new buyer turn it around. Port Talbot closure 'could hit 15,000' Analysis: Warning over defence impact Tata Steel workers in 'complete shock' Mr McDonnell said the government should "bring forward the support that was expected in this budget and didn't happen" on reducing business rates, which he said were "five to seven times" higher in the UK than Europe. Charles De Lusignan, from the European Steel Association, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the UK had been blocking a European Commission proposal from 2013 to lift the lesser duty rule, which caps tariffs at 9%, as an anti-dumping measure. "The fact that the UK continues to block it means that when the government says it is doing everything it takes to save the steel industry in the UK but also in Europe it's not," he said. "European Steel and UK steel is viable so there is no fundamental reason why it shouldn't go on for the foreseeable future. "But action should have been taken already. We find ourselves discussing a problem which should never have arisen and would not have arisen had we modernised trade defence instruments when we had the chance. " Meanwhile, some have raised concerns about Mr Javid's trip with his daughter. Labour MP Anna Turley said it gave the impression of the trip "being a jolly", while fellow MP Stephen Kinnock, whose Aberavon constituency is home to the Port Talbot plant, said Mr Javid should have travelled to Mumbai for Tata's crunch board meeting on Tuesday "but instead he chose to jet off to Australia". A source from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said Mr Javid's daughter "was there to spend time with her father" and "he paid for everything" - and dismissed Mr Kinnock's calls for him to consider his position as "ridiculous". David Cameron has said ministers had been working "for months" to save the industry - but warned there were "no guarantees of success". Steel production makes up 1% of Britain's manufacturing output and 0.1% of the country's economic output. It is understood the government is looking at offering loan guarantees to potential buyers and tighter rules on procurement to make sure major British projects are obliged to buy British steel. Do you work at the Port Talbot steel plant? How will the plans to sell it affect you and your family? Let us know about your experiences. Email [email protected] with your stories. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: Or use the form below
2016-04-01 07:10 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
62 Birmingham Academy to pay back more than £100k funding A Birmingham academy chain must pay back more than £100,000 in government funding. Perry Beeches Academy Trust claimed about £2.8m from the Education Funding Agency for free school meals but only kept limited records of its entitlements. An EFA report said this was a breach of government guidelines. The trust said it was a genuine administrative error. More on this and other Birmingham stories The trust, which runs five schools and looks after 2,400 pupils, has been ordered to hand back £118,000 to the EFA for failing to keep records of pupils entitled to free school meals for the years 2013 and 2014, and only limited data for 2015. It is the second financial controversy at the trust, which was also found to have paid an additional salary of £160,000 over two years to its chief executive Liam Nolan through a third party agreement - on top of his £120,000-a-year salary. In a letter to the trust , the EFA has expressed concerns over "significant weaknesses in financial management and governance" of the schools and sought assurances that these concerns will be addressed with adequately qualified staff. The academy has been asked to update the EFA on its action plan moving forward by 29 April. A spokesperson for the school said: "This was a genuine administration error on the system as the details were overwritten by someone who mistakenly thought that was the right way to do it. "The management of administration was one of the points the EFA picked up on in the report and the trust have been working with them to correct procedures such as this one. "The trust feels that if a mistake has been made and that money has been claimed by the trust in error, then it of course has to be repaid. "
2016-04-01 07:10 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
63 Yahoo - Lexus Revs Up Basketball Fans with New Campaign on Yahoo Sports and Launches Bracket Challenge New campaign promotes the all-new 2016 Lexus GS F timed with the 2016 Men's College Basketball Tournament --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (NASDAQ:YHOO) announced today that Lexus is a presenting sponsor of Tourney Pick'em and will also launch "GS F The Bracket," a custom Lexus branded game around the 2016 Men's College Basketball Tournament. In addition to Lexus connecting with fans through display, native and video advertising, "GS F The Bracket" asks fans to pick which games will reach a combined 60 points the fastest for an opportunity to win a GS F-inspired luxury vacation. "Working with , we have the opportunity to engage millions of college basketball fans and highlight the Lexus GS F," said , Lexus general manager of consumer and product marketing. "A car that goes 0-60 in 4.5 seconds deserves the spotlight while we give fans a fun and fast way to get into the games this month. " Every year, is the ultimate destination for millions of sports fans during the Men's College Basketball Tournament. As a sponsor of Sports' Tourney Pick'em, Lexus's digital campaign includes display ads driving to "GS F The Bracket" game, pre-roll video ads and branded integrations, and native ad placements targeted to the GS F audience. As part of this, Lexus will be integrated within the "Tourney Bracket Live" show on. "We're helping brands like Lexus connect with the millions of fans that visit every year to create brackets tied to one of their favorite basketball events," said , Chief Revenue Officer,. "Sports fans are incredibly passionate on and we're committed to bringing them new experiences that make their favorite games even better. " To sign up for "GS F The Bracket," fans can visit GSFtheBracket.com beginning. Each round, players can select which matchup will reach a combined 60 points the fastest. Fans are encouraged to make their picks for each round but can join the game at any point before. "The phenomenon of college basketball fans and their brackets create an unparalleled level of engagement each March," said , Chief Creative Officer, , agency of record for Lexus. "With ‘GS F The Bracket,' there's a logical connection between the speed of offense that sports fans find with college hoops and a high-performance car like the Lexus GS F. " is a guide focused on informing, connecting, and entertaining our users. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. is headquartered in , and has offices located throughout the , (APAC) and the , and (EMEA) regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company's blog (yahoo.tumblr.com). Lexus launched in 1989 with two luxury sedans and a commitment to pursue perfection. Since that time, Lexus has expanded its line-up to meet the needs of global luxury customers. Lexus is now going beyond its reputation for high quality vehicles with the integration of innovative technology, emotional exterior and interior designs, and engaging driving dynamics and performance. With six models incorporating , Lexus is the luxury hybrid leader. Lexus also offers seven F SPORT models and two F performance models. In , Lexus vehicles are sold through 236 dealers who are committed to exemplary customer service.
2016-04-01 07:09 investor.yahoo.net
64 Government accused over China trade links as minister visits steel crisis plant Ministers have been accused of prioritising trade links with China over support for the UK steel industry as Sajid Javid prepares to meet steelworkers in Port Talbot. The Business Secretary will insist the Government is "on their side" after he cut short a trip to Australia to return to the UK in the wake of the decision by Indian conglomerate Tata to sell its UK assets including the plant in South Wales. Much of the steel crisis has been blamed on China dumping cheap steel on European markets. And the Government faces allegations that it has placed improving trade with China above protecting the interests of the UK steel industry. Ex-deputy prime minister Nick Clegg blamed his former cabinet colleague, George Osborne, for the policy. "George Osborne has put his special relationship with China above the UK's best interests," the former Liberal Democrat leader said. "The Conservative Government have continually failed to take action and missed many opportunities to help the UK steel industry, such as taking steps to prevent dumping of cheap Chinese steel on the UK market. "The Government must now act before more steel jobs across the UK are put at risk. " Meanwhile, the Government has been accused of "blocking" European moves to scrap the "lesser duty" rule which would allow tougher tariffs to be imposed on cheap imported steel. Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, European Steel Association spokesman Charles de Lusignan said: "We have been talking about the lifting of the lesser duty rule in particular for a long time. "The fact is that the UK has been blocking this. They are not the only member state but they are certainly the ring leader in blocking the lifting of the lesser duty rule. "The ability to lift this has actually been part of a proposal that the European Commission launched in 2013. "The fact that the UK continues to block it means that when the Government says it's doing everything it takes to save the steel industry in the UK, but also in Europe, it's not. "It's simply not true. " Mr Javid has faced calls to consider his position after it emerged he had taken his daughter on the Australian trip. He has said the Government is "working hard" to find a long-term solution for Port Talbot and the wider steel industry. The Government has promised that all possible ministerial, official and diplomatic influence will be exerted to secure the industry's future, but Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled out nationalisation. Mr Javid is due to meet workers and management at Port Talbot today. He will also meet trade union officials and members of the Welsh Government. He will be accompanied by Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns and will promise that independent advisers will be appointed by the Government once Tata begins the formal sales process. Mr Javid said: "I'm going to Port Talbot to meet staff and management, who are understandably extremely anxious about their future. "I will listen to them, and I want to reassure them myself that the Government is on their side in working hard to achieve a long-term solution for them, for the region and for the wider UK steel industry. "Whilst we can't change the status of the global steel market, we can and are playing a positive role in securing a sustainable future. " He will promise a cross-Whitehall response, working with Treasury Minister Lord O'Neill, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Letwin and Mr Cairns, as well as the Welsh Government, to find a buyer for Tata Steel's assets. Mr Javid will also defend the response to the crisis, insisting that without the Government's intervention steelworkers in Port Talbot could have been faced with the immediate closure of the plant rather than it being put up for sale. A spokesman for the steelworkers' union Community said: "Steelworkers across the country will be shocked that it has taken this long for the Government to finally wake up to the crisis facing our steel industry. "Community, the steelworkers' union, has always been keen to work constructively with Government, but Sajid Javid cannot simply arrive at Port Talbot and read out his list of 'achievements' - this week's news is proof that Government action thus far has been woefully inadequate. "
2016-04-01 06:52 Press Association www.dailymail.co.uk
65 Prince Charles encourages Prince George to start gardening The Prince of Wales has been coaxing Prince George to follow in his gardening footsteps by helping him plant trees at his Highgrove estate. Prince Charles told BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time that his grandson has helped to dig in "a tree or two" at his Gloucestershire home. The prince said he has even redesigned some of his gardens to make them more child-friendly. He also described how his own passion for gardening started in his childhood. Speaking from Highgrove the prince said: "You never know, do you, what people are going to be interested in. "The most important thing is I got him planting a tree or two here, so we planted it together and shovelled in the earth. "That's the way, I think, when you are very small, and then each time they come you say, 'Do you see how much the tree has grown, or whatever?' and you hope that they take an interest. " Prince Charles described his passion for gardening as a "marvellous, therapeutic business... you can get reward from it but you can also be driven mad by it". He said his interest was sparked by pottering around in the garden at Buckingham Palace, where he tended a little plot near Constitution Hill, and also by spending time with his grandmother, The Queen Mother, at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park. "I always like gardening - I hate to say this - from a child's point of view. It's a funny thing, because I have such happy memories of bits of garden at my grandmother's house. "In Scotland and here I have tried to design it with what would appeal to a child; it is the paths and the interests. "I have tried to do that at Dumfries House as well. We have made a maze now up there which is rather fun, and I adored a maze when I was young. You just put yourself in the child's position and sometimes it works. " Gardener's Question Time will broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 15:00 BST on Friday.
2016-04-01 07:10 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
66 No joke on 1 April: It's national 'price hike' day More than a million workers are celebrating a pay rise as a result of the National Living Wage, but 1 April sees a raft of price rises too. Council tax bills in England are going up by an average of 3.1%, or £46 a year, while residents of Wales will pay an extra £41. Water bills, prescription charges, and the cost of air travel are also rising. "It seems to have become national price hike day," said Hannah Maundrell, the editor in chief of Money.co.uk. "The majority of the price hikes seem pretty small, many as low as 1%. However, all these small hikes add up and lead to fewer pounds in your pocket. " The latest figures show that CPI inflation is currently 0.3%. Apart from Council tax, here are some of the other increases: After years of encouraging local authorities to freeze their Council Tax, the Treasury has now allowed a small increase, primarily to pay for the costs of social care. However Council Tax will remain frozen in Scotland for another year. Councils say that much of the increase will be spent on paying a higher level of wages, as a result of the introduction of the National Living Wage (NLW). From 1 April, 1.3m workers over the age of 25 will be entitled to a minimum wage of £7.20 an hour, instead of £6.70 previously. "After years of striving to keep council tax as low as possible or frozen, town halls find themselves having no choice but to ask residents to pay more council tax over the next few years to offset some of the spiralling costs of social care in 2016/17," said a spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA). Councils also warned that the quality and quantity of services on offer could drop, as a result of further funding reductions next year. They said the National Living Wage would bring "a significant further cost pressure from April". National Living Wage comes into force bbc.co.uk 2016-04-01 07:11 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
67 Musician sues Royal Opera House over ruined hearing A renowned viola player is suing the Royal Opera House for ruining his hearing and his career during rehearsals of Wagner's Die Walkure. Chris Goldscheider claims his hearing was irreversibly damaged by brass instruments put immediately behind him. The Musicians' Union says hearing damage is a major problem for musicians playing in orchestras. The Royal Opera House denies it is responsible, but around a quarter of its players suffer hearing illnesses. In court documents seen by the BBC, Goldscheider claims that in 2012 his hearing was "irreversibly damaged" during rehearsals of Richard Wagner's thunderous Die Walkure "from brass instruments placed immediately behind him" in the famous "pit" at the Royal Opera House. The sound peaked at around 137 decibels, which is roughly the sound of a jet engine. The court documents say the noise "created an immediate and permanent traumatic threshold shift". Goldscheider says this amounts to "acoustic shock", one effect of which is that the brain hugely amplifies ordinary sounds. Music has been in most of Goldscheider's life: "For the last quarter of a century I've been a professional musician. Music was my income. It was my everything," he says. The son of a composer, from the age of 10 he spent in excess of six hours a day practising and rehearsing. He played the viola with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and BBC Symphony orchestras, before joining the prestigious Royal Opera House orchestra in 2002. Career highlights have included performing live with the famous Three Tenors to 100,000 people at the Barcelona Camp Nou football stadium, and with Kylie Minogue on MTV. He has also recorded with artists including the band 10cc. Goldscheider says the effects of the hearing damage have been devastating. "Ordinary sounds like banging cups and glasses together is a very painful noise," he says. "My newborn daughter last year was crying so much I actually got noise-induced vertigo because of my injury and I ended up in bed for three weeks. " The musician says he has lost the career he loved and his mental health has deteriorated as he struggles to cope with the impact and effects of his hearing problems. Life has changed dramatically. To carry out ordinary every day tasks such as preparing food, Chris has to wear ear protectors. Especially upsetting is that he had been unable to listen to his 18-year-old son Ben - one of the country's outstanding young French horn players. "Ben is a fantastic musician. I haven't been able to listen to him play or practice since my injury. I've missed him playing concerts and winning competitions. I can't even bear him practising in an upstairs room when I am downstairs in the house," he says. At the time of his injury, Goldscheider was provided with hearing protection capable of reducing the noise by up to 28 decibels, but his lawyers claim this was insufficient. They say he was not given enough training in how to use it and protect himself, and that the noise levels should not have been so dangerously high. The Royal Opera House does not accept the rehearsal noise caused Goldscheider's injury, and denies that is responsible. In a statement it told the BBC: "Mr Goldscheider's compensation claim against the Royal Opera House is a complex medico-legal issue, which has been going on for some time and is still under investigation. "All sides are keen to reach a resolution. The matter is now the subject of legal proceedings, and in the circumstances it wouldn't be appropriate to comment any further at this stage. " And according to Goldscheider's solicitor Chris Fry, part of the Royal Opera House's defence breaks new legal ground. "Essentially what is being said is that the beautiful artistic output justifies damaging the hearing of the musicians performing it," he says. "That's never been tested by the courts. We don't think the court is likely to uphold that, in particular where it's clear steps could be taken to maintain the beautiful sound and protect hearing at the same time. " Hearing damage suffered by rock musicians is well documented. Years ago The Who's Pete Townsend went public about his hearing loss and famously said a doctor had told him: "You're not actually going deaf, but I'd advise you to learn to lip read. " Brian Johnson of AC/DC and Ozzy Osborne have also been affected. But what is far less well known is that it is a significant problem in the more sedate and sophisticated world of classical music. There are around 100 players in the orchestra at the Royal Opera House. The BBC has learnt more than a quarter report occasional or mild hearing illness, and that in the 2013/14 season, there were seven cases of sickness absence related to noise problems and a total of 117 weeks of sick leave taken. That's not music to anyone's ears. Morris Stemp of the Musicians Union says there are many reasons for the hearing damage suffered by classical musicians. "Conductors are allowed to ride roughshod over health and safety considerations," he says. "They put players on the stage where they will be in harm's way. And instruments are now louder than they ever were before because of the materials they are now made from. " Add to that the increased number of live concerts prompted in part by the drop in income from CD sales, and there is a mix of elements that can put the hearing of orchestra players at serious risk. Chris Goldscheider's case casts light on a little known or discussed problem, and will be watched closely by all those in the classical music world.
2016-04-01 07:10 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
68 Indian lunar orbiter hit by heat rise - CNN.com NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Scientists have switched off several on-board instruments to halt rising temperatures inside India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft. Mylswamy Annadurai, the project director for the lunar mission, told CNN that temperatures onboard Chandrayaan-1 had risen to 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit). The increase occurred as the craft, the moon -- which it is orbiting -- and the sun lined up, a phenomenon which Annadurai said was not unexpected and which would likely last until the end of December. "We have switched off the systems (aboard) that are not needed to be on," Annadurai said, ruling out the possibility of damage and adding that the temperature was now down to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Heat on board the Chandrayaan-1 should not exceed 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), Annadurai said -- but insisted the orbiter is designed to withstand up to 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). The Chandrayaan-1 -- Chandrayaan means "moon craft" in Sanskrit -- was successfully launched from southern India on October 22. Watch the launch of India's first lunar mission » Its two-year mission is to take high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the moon's surface, especially the permanently shadowed polar regions. It also will search for evidence of water or ice and attempt to identify the chemical composition of certain lunar rocks, the group said. Earlier this month the Moon Impact Probe detached from Chandrayaan-1 and successfully crash-landed on the moon's surface. Officials say that the TV-size probe, which is adorned with a painting of the Indian flag, hit the moon's surface at a speed of 5,760 kilometers per hour (3,579 mph). It transmitted data to Chandrayaan-1 ahead of impact but was not intended to be retrieved after that. Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads from the United States, the European Union and Bulgaria. India plans to share the data from the mission with other programs, including NASA.
2016-04-01 02:29 Harmeet Shah rss.cnn.com
69 Shuttle Endeavour lands at California air base - CNN.com (CNN) -- Space shuttle Endeavour landed safely Sunday afternoon at California's Edwards Air Force Base after NASA waved off two opportunities for a Florida landing because of poor weather. The shuttle, steered by commander Christopher Ferguson, landed at 1:25 p.m., ending a mission that lasted more than two weeks. Wind, rain and reports of thunderstorms within 30 miles of the shuttle landing facility at Florida's Kennedy Space Center prompted NASA to cancel the landing attempts there. Those had been scheduled for 1:19 p.m. and 2:54 p.m. ET. After determining Monday's weather forecast at Kennedy Space Center was equally unpromising, flight controllers decided they would try to land the shuttle and its seven astronauts at Edwards AFB, about 100 miles from Los Angeles, California, where Sunday's forecast was sunny. Flight controllers prefer landings at Kennedy Space Center because of cost and schedule. NASA has estimated it costs about $1.7 million to bring a shuttle home to Kennedy Space Center from California. Watch Endeavour's Sunday landing in California » It also takes at least a week to get the shuttle ready for the trip, but schedule is not a major factor for the Endeavour; it is not scheduled to fly again until May. Endeavour's 15-day mission to the international space station began on November 14 and included four spacewalks. During that time, the crew brought key pieces -- including exercise equipment, more sleeping berths and a urine recycling system -- for a project to double the capacity of the station from three in-house astronauts to six. The recycling system was installed to turn urine and sweat from the astronauts into drinking water. Other modules are scheduled to arrive on a February shuttle flight. The goal of expanding the station's capacity to six astronauts is expected to be reached by the summer. The crew also worked on a joint that helps generate power for the space station. Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen spent hours cleaning and lubricating the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, which is designed to allow the solar panels on the left side of the station to rotate and track the sun. The astronauts also removed and replaced several trundle bearing assemblies. The mission went according to plan, despite a minor interruption on the first spacewalk when a grease gun in Stefanyshyn-Piper tool's bag leaked, coating everything inside with a film of lubricant. While she was trying to clean it up, the bag -- with $100,000 in tools -- floated away. CNN's Kate Tobin and Miles O'Brien contributed to this report.
2016-04-01 02:29 rss.cnn.com
70 The rise and fall of the GLC It is 30 years since one of the most controversial experiments in local government was scrapped. What was the Greater London Council (GLC) and how has it shaped today's politics? If you wander along the Thames to Westminster Bridge and look across the river you will be confronted with the imposing sight of County Hall, with its curved frontage, Ionic columns, porthole windows and flagpoles. Now, it houses two hotels and several tourist attractions: the London Aquarium, London Dungeon and an amusement arcade. But beyond them, in the belly of the building, is a chamber intended for political debate. Leather benches and a speaker's chair lie behind locked doors, gathering dust. This was where, from 1965 to 1986, members of the GLC met and attempted to confront the biggest problems facing the capital: a burgeoning population, a strained transport network, polluted streets and inadequate housing. It began as an effort to rationalise London-wide planning, and it ended in a fierce face-off between two of the most popular and divisive figures in British politics: Margaret Thatcher and Ken Livingstone. Although the GLC met for the last time 30 years ago, its influence on the current political landscape can still be felt in the idea of the Northern Powerhouse, in the fight for the London mayoralty and in the rise of Jeremy Corbyn. London in the 1950s could be a grim place. Large swathes of residential streets remained derelict after being bombed out during the war and the houses still standing were often squalid and overcrowded. Thick fog hung over the city and roads were dirty and dangerous. The city had begun to sprawl far beyond the boundaries of the London County Council (LCC), the Victorian-era body which had been set up to oversee it. According to Joseph Sparks, Labour MP for Acton, speaking in 1956, many people were "living in deplorable conditions and suffering all kinds of nuisances and inconveniences because of the irregular way in which our towns and cities have grown up". In an era of planning and reconstruction there was a feeling that something ought to be done to bring order to the increasingly disordered capital. Harold Macmillan's government set up a commission in 1957 under Sir Edwin Herbert which recommended getting rid of the LCC and creating a new outfit altogether, the Greater London Council. The commission recommended creating 52 local authorities as "the London boroughs" - a far wider official conception of the capital than ever before. Some areas fought desperately not to be included. In the end 32 London boroughs were approved setting out for the first time the shape of London as it is defined today, Each borough was represented by two members on the GLC, which shared responsibility with the boroughs for providing roads, housing and leisure services. The GLC was to provide direction through wide-ranging "development plans" for how to manage population growth and encourage prosperity across the city. Before the GLC had even assembled for the first time, there were problems - not least of all bureaucratic. The Times reported that as some employees in the old LCC had been given new jobs in the GLC they found themselves in the position of having to write to themselves with requests for action. Its early practical endeavours ran into difficulty. A network of motorways known as the London ringways was meant to relieve congestion but faced fierce opposition - and although it began construction in 1969 the roads were never linked up as originally envisaged. It was finally cancelled in 1973. The elevated Westway linking Paddington to Kensington remains, a relic of the beleaguered project. The GLC had no magic wand to wave over the capital's clogged roads. Even prime ministers were at their mercy. On one occasion in 1972, Ted Heath tried to travel 300m from the Commons to Downing Street and was so incensed at getting stuck in traffic that he phoned the GLC leader Sir Desmond Plummer demanding an explanation - but Sir Desmond happened to be in Tokyo at the time and was unable to help. Its record on housing was similarly mixed. The GLC inherited slum clearance powers from the LCC, but when it began efforts to relocate Londoners from dilapidated inner-city homes to suburbs or satellite towns they were strenuously resisted by people living there. Barnstaple in Devon held a referendum in 1967 on "London overspill" and rejected the idea, fearing the "despoilment" of the countryside, according to The Times. From the late 1960s, the GLC was at the centre of a fundamental shift in the philosophy of local government which was to mean its role as a housing provider was reduced. When the Conservatives took control of the GLC in 1967, Horace Cutler was put in charge of the housing committee. He believed local authorities had no place as property owners and introduced a scheme to allow tenants to buy their homes at a discount, a scheme which influenced Margaret Thatcher and paved the way for the right-to-buy. Despite the diminution of its original grand plans for housing and transport, the GLC did change London. It helped renew or build landmarks such as the new Blackwall Tunnel, the Woolwich Ferry and the Thames Barrier, as well as putting money into the arts and fighting air pollution. The GLC was held back from more significant progress by two strands of political tension: one, between central and local government and two, between Conservative and Labour members on the GLC. Control passed from Labour to Conservative and back again four times in the GLC's 21-year life span. To complicate matters, the leading party on the GLC was almost always the opposite complexion to the one in power at Westminster. There were, in the words of Birkbeck's Prof Jerry White, "wild swings in political control and policy direction". Projects were "blocked from above by government and below by the borough" - whether it was the outer boroughs' refusal to co-operate with efforts to rehouse Londoners there or the 1973 Labour government's temporary reversal of the project to promote council house sales as led by the GLC's Conservatives. This pattern of political jockeying in the 1960s and 70s may have meant the ingredients for the GLC's downfall were already there. But it entered a completely new era in 1981 when a young councillor from Lambeth, Ken Livingstone, came to the fore. He was 27 when he was first elected to the GLC in 1973. He recalls: "I remember thinking, I just want to spend the rest of my life here. "My first job there was as vice-chair of the film viewing board so I was basically being paid to watch dodgy films all day. " From there he took up a housing role where he immediately kicked up a fuss about cuts in the GLC's house-building budget, and was sacked. He thinks this contributed to making him a public figure, saying his critics have always helped raise his profile. "If Thatcher had just ignored us," he suggests, "no-one would have ever heard of us. " The manner in which Mr Livingstone came to lead the GLC is still notorious. He had been beaten to the leadership of the Labour group on the GLC by the moderate Andrew McIntosh in 1980 - but was by that point openly leading a left-wing grouping of the party with the declared aim of "taking over the GLC". The day after Labour won control of County Hall in May 1981, party members met and called a leadership election in which Mr Livingstone beat Mr McIntosh by 30 votes to 20 to become leader. In Parliament the Conservative MP John Hunt condemned it as "a pre-arranged coup carefully concealed from the electorate". Defending his actions now, Mr Livingstone says: "Andrew McIntosh just didn't understand how politics worked. "He wasn't interested in talking to the whip, to his deputies. He wasn't interested in getting things done. " One of the first things he did on becoming leader was to introduce the "Fares Fair" policy, a 25% cut in London transport fares subsidised by higher rates. Like many of his ideas, it inspired enthusiasm and abject horror in equal measure. Particularly aggrieved at the rates rise were the Bromley Conservatives, who challenged it in the High Court and won. Although his most famous policy was killed off in its infancy, Oxford University's Prof John Davis argues: "It was really his posture as leader of the GLC that made Ken Livingstone stand out, not projects or policy per se. " That posture was the active promotion of a new brand of left-wing politics with an emphasis on minority rights. It was sometimes known by its sympathisers as "the rainbow coalition", and mocked by its detractors as "the loony left". It was embodied in the establishment of committees on the GLC representing women, ethnic minorities and gay people, as well as a committee which informally scrutinised the work of the Metropolitan Police. These causes might seem relatively uncontroversial now, but at the time they were viewed as daft or even subversive by Livingstone's critics. Prof Davis explains: "It wasn't just his campaigns - although gay rights and police oversight were certainly viewed more suspiciously then than they are now - but the way he went about it, sometimes handing out money to groups which hadn't been properly vetted. " Bob Neill, the Conservative MP for Bromley and Chiselhurst, sat on the GLC in its final years and recalls: "It was an extremely fractious, highly politicised place to work. I didn't see anything like that again until Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party. " Mr Livingstone's answer to his critics is that "the job of a leader is to lead - we've all grown used to Blair era of focus groups, but your job as a political leader is to think about what you want your city or country to be 20 years down the line and then lead the debate. " He added: "Some of the things you do will be unpopular at the beginning, but by the end of five years there was support for every one of our policies, with the exception of LGBT rights. " Mr Livingstone's activities inevitably brought him into conflict with Margaret Thatcher, who had begun her decade at Number 10 just before his ascent to the top of the GLC. As if his plan to raise rates had not been provocative enough, he adopted a number of stances which seemed designed to get under the skin of Conservatives: declaring London a "nuclear- free zone" in 1981, declining an invitation to the royal wedding, publicly supporting Irish republicanism and erecting a sign on top of County Hall proclaiming the number of unemployed in London. He was nicknamed "Red Ken" in the press and Private Eye ran a cartoon series comparing him to Lenin. Margaret Thatcher was regularly briefed on what her policy unit called "the left-wing extremists" in London. Mrs Thatcher herself was circumspect in her public remarks about Livingstone, but she told the Commons as early as 1981: "It is quite clear that some defence is needed against the reported activities of Mr Ken Livingstone. " But the GLC was merely the most conspicuous example of a wider theme across the country. Conservative MPs were concerned about what they saw as "Marxist experiments" by Labour councils from Hackney to Liverpool, and Mrs Thatcher condemned them as "big spenders of other people's money". Cambridge University's Prof David Runciman has written that "hard-left Labour councils" along with the IRA and NUM were "for Thatcher… all of a piece: each sought to supplant parliamentary government with direct action and threats of violence". It was in this context that the 1983 Conservative manifesto promised to abolish the GLC, "a wasteful and unnecessary tier of government". When Mrs Thatcher was re-elected and prepared to dismantle the GLC there were protests on both sides of the political divide. The House of Lords forced a delay. But in 1986 it met for the last time. But the locked chamber at County Hall is not all that remains of the GLC. The most obvious legacy is the Greater London Authority, the system of an elected mayor and assembly created by Tony Blair's government after a referendum in 1997. "One of the most crucial innovations of the GLA was the devolution of Met Police oversight to the mayor - and that can be traced back to the GLC's efforts to scrutinise the police informally," says Prof Davis. It is a formula which the government is now trying to replicate elsewhere in the country, through police and crime commissioners, city region mayors and combined authorities. The philosophy behind the GLC also seems to be enjoying something of a renaissance. "The creation of the GLC was a real attempt to start from scratch on a blank page and say, our city is growing, how do we manage it? Something similar is being attempted now with the government's 'Northern Powerhouse' idea. " Prof Davis points out there are differences between the two ideas. The current government's commitment to big transport projects was not a hallmark of the GLC's work. The current drive for devolution is an effort to deliver more power to existing local structures rather than designing a new body from scratch. Perhaps most surprisingly of all, it is not just the ethos of the GLC which is making a comeback but its starring members. When Boris Johnson was elected mayor of London, the BBC was not alone in commissioning "end of an era" political obituaries of Ken Livingstone. The consensus was his central role in London government dating back to the 1970s was over. But then Mr Corbyn was elected Labour leader and Mr Livingstone came to the fore again as part of the party's defence policy review. Shadow cabinet positions were also given to Diane Abbott and John McDonnell, an unlikely second coming for the political movement born in the London Labour Party of the 1980s. Bob Neill laughs as he confesses to "a sense of déjà vu". He adds: "But I am very worried, because it was a type of ideological municipal socialism which didn't really deliver efficient services. It's worrying that that hardline doctrinaire approach has returned. " Even Mr Livingstone admits he was surprised to see Mr Corbyn elected but maintains that in him voters see "someone who'll stand up for us". Critics of the GLC experiment may have classed it as "Marxist", "mad" and "doomed" - but it's not quite over yet.
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
71 How an alcoholic monk founded her own monastery Fifty years ago, Luang Poh Yaai lived as a Buddhist monk - a first for a woman in Thailand where religious authorities bar females from the monkhood. Today some get round the ban by getting ordained abroad and returning to live in monasteries for women. The temple of Wat Thamkrabok sits at the foot of a sweeping, craggy outcrop in the countryside north of Bangkok. Its courtyard is shaded by ancient trees. Once a day, its temporary residents kneel alongside a grate that covers a deep drain, and breathe deeply. Next to each of them is a metal bucket full of drinking water. In turn, they are offered a small glass of dark liquid, poured by a monk from an ancient bottle. They drink. Within seconds the still air is assaulted by the sound of retching. As the young men vomit into the drain, the monks offer encouragement, tell them to keep drinking water, and place reassuring hands on bare shoulders. Those undergoing this punishing regime are all drug and alcohol addicts. And it was Luang Poh Yaai who introduced the detox programme to treat opium addiction in 1959. She was an excellent herbalist, and the preparation drunk by the addicts is still made to her recipe. Beside the temple, away from the courtyard where the addicts are treated, is a workshop - it is the domain of Luang Pi Ai, one of the monks. An old table heaves under the weight of dozens of statues-in-the-making - all representations of Luang Poh Yaai. And there is a life-size, fibreglass figure of her. "I made this 30 years ago," explains Luang Pi Ai. "It was one of my first and my best because I made it from my soul. " He was ordained at the temple when he was 19, and has a particular reason to feel grateful to Luang Poh Yaai. "My father was the very first addict to be successfully treated here," he says. "He was an opium addict - back then there was only opium. After he followed the programme here he never touched drugs again. " Find out more The details about Luang Poh Yaai's early life are sketchy. According to an account by Ian G Baird, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a child she claimed to remember her past lives and communicated with spirits. Later, she married and had two children, but abandoned by her husband, she lived in a Bangkok slum and became an alcoholic. At the age of 40, or thereabouts, Luang Poh Yaai again remembered her past lives, stopped drinking and became a white-robed Buddhist nun, or mae chee . In 1957 she founded the temple with her two nephews. By then she was wearing monks' robes. "One day she understood the truth, and she changed her clothes right away - there was no formal ordination," says the current abbot of the temple, Phra Ajahn Boonsong, who studied under Luang Poh Yaai for three years until she died in 1970. "If you were an outsider, you wouldn't have guessed she was a woman," he says, though all her followers knew, and no-one expressed concern or disapproval. " Away from her community, however, it could be different. "Once, she was arrested in another province, and charged with imitating a monk, which is illegal in Thailand," says Phra Ajahn Boonsong. "She explained to the authorities she had become a monk to stop herself sinning, and not so she could take advantage of anyone else. So eventually they let her go. " Although Luang Poh Yaai's story is still not well-known in Thailand, for some people she's important. "It seems she had a connection with the divine spirit, and the herbal medicine that she used was told to her by the divine spirit," says the Venerable Dhammananda, a monk since 2001. Dhammananda is a former academic, TV presenter - and a woman. She travelled to Sri Lanka - where female monks are allowed - to be ordained. She returned home the first Thai woman to be fully ordained in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, and is now abbess at the Songdhammakalyani monastery in Nhakon Pathom, west of Bangkok. "Back then, I didn't think it was anything great… I was just doing my duty, keeping alive the heritage that the Buddha gave us. But to look back - unless there was that one woman who walked ahead, the movement would not have started. " In Thailand, reactions to Dhammananda were often negative. "In the beginning… 'Oh! You dare wear the robe!' And I said, 'Well I'm a monk, I'm a female monk, what else do you want me to wear?' It still happens now, but only when I go to a public toilet - they always try to throw me out and send me to the male toilet because they associate the robes with men. But we make a joke of it, and they accept me. " Now there are about 100 women monks in Thailand - all of them ordained abroad. Fifteen women live at the Songdhammakalyani monastery, where life is punctuated by meditation and stillness. The monks work too - maintaining the temple grounds, delivering workshops in prisons, and welcoming members of the public who attend services or come seeking help. And Dhammananda is about to branch out and establish a new community further south in Thailand. Compared to some 300,000 men living in monasteries in Thailand, women like Dhammananda are part of a tiny minority. But they may be gaining a better reputation than some of their male counterparts. Repeated allegations in the newspapers about sexual offences, fraud and wildlife trafficking, have led to disillusionment in her community, she says, something the women notice when they go out collecting alms - food, drinks and offerings of flowers. "Some households have already stopped giving alms to the male monks - they lost respect. And then when they see these female monks coming out, then they start giving alms again. " She also sees growing signs of encouragement for female monks from Thailand's male counterparts. "Some of them do support us," she says. "More and more on our temple's Facebook page, monks visit to learn about what we do. And when we arranged our latest international ordination in Sri Lanka, many monks said, ' Satu ' which means 'Well done' - or they clicked 'Like'. " Phra Ajahn Boonsong, the abbot of Wat Thamkrabok, will not be drawn on whether Thailand should allow the ordination of women. He says only this: "In the Buddhist world there is only one truth, and there is no gender. " Paul has come from Australia in the hope of being cured of his addiction to crystal meth. He is on day four of the detox programme, and is surprised to learn the founder of the temple, and the initiator of his treatment, was a woman - it is not written anywhere in English on the temple's website. But he knows what he would say to Luang Poh Yaai if she were here. "Thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to begin a new life. And to anyone who wants to stop their bad habit, welcome to Wat Thamkrabok. " Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
72 Man charged with double murder over Canterbury killings A man has been charged with the murder of two people following an altercation at a property in Canterbury. Foster Christian, 53, of Dickens Avenue in the city, is charged with the murder of Simon Gorecki and Natasha Sadler. Mr Gorecki, 47, and Ms Sadler, 40, were found when police were called to the property on Tuesday. Mr Christian is also charged with two counts of grievous bodily harm. He is due to appear before Medway Magistrates Court on Friday. A 16-year-old boy who was described as being in a critical condition following the argument is now stable, Kent Police said. Two women, aged 18 and 35, who were arrested early on Thursday on suspicion of perverting the course of justice are still in custody, the force added.
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
73 Police to recruit extra 1,500 firearms officers Police forces in England and Wales are to recruit an extra 1,500 firearms officers to help protect the public from terrorism, David Cameron has said. There will also be more counter-terrorism teams outside London and 40 new armed response vehicles. Most of the new officers will be funded by the government and will be trained within the next two years. Last year the prime minister set aside £143m over five years to boost the UK's armed response capability. Mr Cameron made the latest announcement during his visit to Washington DC to attend a Nuclear Security Summit, where world leaders are discussing plans to protect nuclear facilities. "Our police and intelligence agencies work round the clock to keep us safe and it is absolutely vital that we support them with the right resources and kit," Mr Cameron said. "After the terrorist attacks in France last year, we decided to look at whether there was more we could do to protect people from the type of terrorist threat we now face. "That's why we are increasing the number of specially trained armed officers up and down the country to make sure the police have greater capability to respond swiftly and effectively should they need to do so. " Downing Street said the increased network of armed police units was intended to complement military contingency plans already in place to deploy up to 10,000 troops in the event of a terror attack. Central funding will pay for 1,000 extra firearms officers across England and Wales, including 600 already announced by the Metropolitan Police to be based in London and 400 around the rest of England and Wales. A further 500 officers will be funded by the forces themselves. Latest figures show there are currently around 5,875 firearms officers in England and Wales. The increase will bring the total number of armed police back to levels last seen in 2010. An additional 40 armed response vehicles and teams are due to be "up and running" within the next 12 months, bringing the total number across the country to 150. London will see its fleet doubled. The vehicles are adapted so the armed officers can be deployed along with their specialist kit to incidents at speed.
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
74 Crumlin Road Gaol: Evolution from symbol of conflict to concerts A fortress in the heart of north Belfast, it was once dubbed 'Europe's Alcatraz'. Having served as an internment camp, borne witness to rebellions and executions and numerous escapes, the Crumlin Road Gaol is a symbol of Ireland's turbulent history. The final day of March in 2016 marks 20 years since the gaol closed its doors to prisoners and, over the course of 150 years, it has been at the heart of many historic moments. Marched in chains Historian Éamon Phoenix describes the building as "grey, black and forbidding". In the mid-19th century, public executions took place on gallows in the gaol's yard in front of crowds of up to 20,000. The imposing building still standing proud on the Crumlin Road replaced the old County Gaol in Carrickfergus, County Antrim. Based on a design by eminent architect and engineer Sir Charles Lanyon, the gaol was built in the Italian renaissance style between 1843 and 1845 and was seen as one of the most advanced prisons of its day. To populate Belfast's newest landmark, 106 inmates were marched the 11 miles from Carrickfergus in chains. The prisoners included men, women and children, with each group segregated within the new gaol. Segregation was to become a consistent theme throughout the gaol's history. Political prisoners Inside its thick fortified walls the Crum, as it is commonly known, has housed more than 25,000 people including murderers, suffragettes, petty thieves, and republican and loyalist prisoners. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, many notable figures were detained there. Prior to their role as politicians, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness both had spells at the Crum, as did loyalist Michael Stone and IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. One of the more curious incidents in the the gaol's history led to the then Sinn Féin leader Éamon de Valera being arrested in 1924 for illegally crossing the border in Newry, flouting an order barring him from entering Northern Ireland. "This imprisonment was the worst prison experience of his life," Dr Phoenix said. "He was held in solitary confinement for months and described the food as so bad that he used to feed it to the crows through the bars". He returned to the cells of north Belfast in 1929. Again his crime was crossing the border illegally, but he found his second stay a much more pleasurable experience, as Dr Phoenix explains: "De Valera befriended the governor - they had dinner and played chess together. "And until the end of the governor's days he received a Christmas card from President Éamon de Valera. " Suffragette struggle During the early 1900s those calling for universal suffrage became increasingly vocal, and groups like the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) were becoming ever more radical. Middle-class women were the core of suffrage movement in Ulster and it was Dorothy Evans who led the WSPU campaign in Ulster. Evans went so far as to "declare war" on Edward Carson for his lack of progress on the issue, even after he unexpectedly announced that women's suffrage would be granted in 1913. For Evans and fellow suffragette Madge Muir, this was not enough and they took matters into their own hands. In 1914, the pair were arrested for possession of explosive substances after a series of arson attacks. After a police raid on their home uncovered a weapons cache, the women were immediately arrested. Evans put up so much resistance that she had to be restrained by a number of officers during the court hearing. This resulted in proceedings being moved to the Crumlin Road Gaol. The court was in fact moved to a desk in the corridor outside Evans's cell door. After the magistrate remanded the women in custody, they promptly began a hunger strike which led to their release under the so-called Cat and Mouse Act of 1913, which allowed for the early release of prisoners who were so weakened by hunger striking that they were at risk of death. Upon their release, the women hired a car, decked it with suffragette flags and defiantly drove around Belfast passing the court where they had caused much outrage. Unsurprisingly, they were soon returned to the Crum's A-wing, which played host to female prisoners. Hangman's noose As Eddie Cullens walked to the gallows, he was still pleading his innocence thousands of miles from home. A Jewish-American gangster, Cullens was convicted of the murder of Turkish circus worker Achmet Musa in Carrickfergus. The details would not have been out of place in a gangster movie. Musa had been shot in the head and his body dumped in a field, naked except for a blue and white swimming cap. Hanged in 1932, Cullens was one of 17 men executed at Crumlin Road Gaol. Fifteen of the bodies still remain buried in unconsecrated graves within the prison walls. The only outward signs of their presence are the initials next to their year of execution, which are scrawled on the walls. The final execution at the gaol, and indeed Northern Ireland, was that of Robert McGladdery in 1961. McGladdery was convicted of the murder of Pearl Gamble, strangled and stabbed in a field near her home in Newry, County Down. "Well, my Lord, there are a lot of things I could say, but I don't think it would make any difference now", said a resigned McGladdery in court as he learned of his fate. The future Since the heavy prison gates closed for the final time in 1996, the Crumlin Road Gaol has been transformed. It is now a grade A listed building and has been redeveloped into a museum, becoming tourist destination. The gaol welcomed Queen Elizabeth II in 2014. On her visit she was flanked by Northern Ireland's then First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. Both were former inmates of the Crumlin Road Gaol. As Dr Phoenix said: "It has now made the radical transformation from symbol of the Troubles to heritage site. " But although it now plays host to public tours, movie screenings and music concerts, it is said that the walls still echo and howl of a time that the Crum was a bastion of pain and suffering.
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
75 GlaxoSmithKline to 'drop patents in poor countries for better drug access' Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline has said it wants to make it easier for manufacturers in the world's poorest countries to copy its medicines. The British company said it would not file patents in these countries. Chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said he wanted to take a "graduated" approach to the company's "intellectual property" based on the wealth of nations around the globe. Experts have described the plans as "brave and positive". GSK hopes that by removing any fear of it filing for patent protection in poorer countries it will allow independent companies to make and sell versions of its drugs in those areas, thereby widening the public access to them. Sir Andrew said he hoped Africa would benefit most from the move. In accordance with international guidelines set out by the United Nations and World Bank, the company has drawn up a list of 50 countries with a combined population of about 1 billion people, where it has said it will not file for patents. In what GSK describes as lower middle income countries it will continue to file patents, but will grant licences to generic manufacturers in exchange for a "small royalty". Sir Andrew added: "The changes we are setting out aim to make it as clear and simple as possible for generic manufacturers to make and supply versions of GSK medicines. " The company has said it also wants to put all its future cancer drugs into a Medicines Patent Pool in an effort to address what it described as "the increasing burden of cancer in developing countries". The patents pool was established in 2010 and has proved successful in accelerating access to treatments such as HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C through voluntary licensing arrangements, which allow generic versions of GSK's drugs to be made and distributed in poorer countries. Expanding the pool to include cancer drugs will "add to the wider contribution GSK makes to improve access to effective healthcare around the world", the company said. Sir Andrew added: "The experience GSK has with the Medicines Patent Pool for Tivicay - our newest HIV medicine and one of our most commercially successful products - gives us confidence that increasing access, incentivising innovation appropriately and achieving business success can go hand in hand. " GSK said it would continue to seek full patent protection in richer parts of the world. Prof Raymond Hill, former President of the British Pharmacological Society, said GSK's plans set a precedent for other major pharmaceutical companies to follow. He said: "This is a brave and positive step towards broadening the access to important new medicines in the developing world. "The impact of this move on the treatment of cancer and other diseases in each individual country will depend on whether there is a local adequate healthcare infrastructure that will allow the safe use of powerful new drugs in an appropriate group of patients. "Many new cancer drugs are most valuable when used in sub-groups of patients identified by advanced diagnostic techniques that may not be available. " Prof Alan Boyd, from the Royal Colleges of Physicians, described the plans as "good news" and "significant" He added: "Access to medicines for patients on a global basis is vital and it is good to see an innovative approach like this to ensure this happens. "
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
76 Ronnie Corbett, best known for The Two Ronnies, dies aged 85 Entertainer Ronnie Corbett, best known for BBC comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies, has died aged 85. His publicist said: "Ronnie Corbett CBE, one of the nation's best-loved entertainers, passed away this morning, surrounded by his loving family. "They have asked that their privacy is respected at this very sad time. " Corbett was one of the UK's best-loved comedians and along with Ronnie Barker; their double act was one of the most successful of the 1970s and '80s. The entertainer had been suffering from ill-health for some time and had been in hospital in 2014 with gall bladder problems. Following Barker's death in 2005, Corbett continued to be regular fixture on UK TV and is perhaps best-known for his armchair "shaggy dog" sketches. His most memorable solo projects include the sitcom Sorry! and the game show Small Talk. He most recently starred in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom When the Dog Dies. 'Huge talent' Sir Bruce Forsyth spoke emotionally about his friend, colleague and fellow golf enthusiast, saying it was "one of the saddest days of my life". "Ronnie was a friend, someone I admired so much. It's a very, very sad day. I'm going to miss him like crazy, I really will. " Sir Bruce said one of the first times he saw Corbett was when he was working in the cast of a Danny La Rue show in the West End. "That was one of the wonderful things about Ronnie - he was very adaptable. He could work with anybody, even me," he said. "We always say a one-off, but he certainly was a one-off and a half. He really was. " Veteran comedian and actor John Cleese , who worked with Corbett on The Frost Report, tweeted: "Just heard about Ronnie C. So sad. He had the best timing I've ever watched. He was a great, kind mentor and a wonderfully witty companion. " Comedian Ricky Gervais , who appeared alongside Corbett in his TV show, Extras, tweeted: "RIP the lovely, funny legend Ronnie Corbett. It was an absolute honour and joy to have known him. " Little Britain star David Walliams , added: "Goodbye my friend and comedy idol Ronnie Corbett Thank you for all the laughs. It was the greatest honour to know and work with you. Goodnight. " Movie star Russell Crowe , added: "And it's good night from Ronnie Corbett. Thanks for all the laughs mate. " And comedy star Miranda Hart , said: "Having a little weep at the death of one of my heroes Ronnie Corbett. " Former BBC chairman Michael Grade also spoke of his sadness at the loss of Corbett, who he described as a "huge talent". He told the BBC the entertainer was "one of the all-time greats of British comedy, no question - I'm so sad for [his wife] Anne and the family - and the nation, really. We've lost a great friend and entertainer. "He learned his craft the hard way. He was a master of comedy of all kinds - TV, cabaret, variety. The most wonderful man. " BBC director general Tony Hall called Corbett "a wonderful comic and entertainer". "A man of great charm and warmth who brought laughter and joy to millions. He was quite simply one of the true greats of British comedy. " ANALYSIS - David Sillito, arts correspondent It was one of the West End's great disasters. Lionel Bart's Robin Hood musical Twang closed after just 43 performances but it was a stroke of good luck for a young Ronnie Corbett. Over cucumber sandwiches at The Ritz with David Frost he had been offered a starring role in his new satirical TV programme, The Frost Report. Suddenly freed from his duties as Will Scarlett, it was Corbett's big break in TV and paired him up with another performer, Ronnie Barker. And why had Frost chosen Corbett? He had seen him in a show in a London nightclub with Danny La Rue. There, in one story, is one of the main reasons Ronnie Corbett was such a popular performer - acting, revue, the 1960s satire boom, music hall - he brought it all together at the right time and the right place in one five-foot-one performer. Read more Scottish-born Corbett started his TV comedy career on David Frost's satirical comedy the Frost Report in 1960. It was here he first worked with Barker, although they had met before, and formed the duo whose TV sketch show became a British TV classic, regularly cited by the public as one of their enduring favourites and by other comics as a big influence on their careers. The Two Ronnies ran from 1971 to 1987 and saw the comedians take part in musical performances and sketches. Speaking to The Telegraph about how well they got on in 2013 he said of Barker: "We were a real couple with matching tastes and styles. "Of course we were quite different but somehow we fitted so well together. I think it's a more pleasant and palatable thing to see people being funny together because you're touching areas of truth. Dinner parties or falling out with people - it's the naturalness of it. " The programme won a Bafta in 1972 for best light entertainment performance and was staple viewing for much of the UK audience on a Saturday night, with more than 15 million viewers. One of their most enduring sketches was the famous hardware shop "fork handles" skit. When on his own, Corbett specialised in long, rambling jokes delivered from an outsize armchair with his legs dangling in the air. Born in Edinburgh on 4 December 1930, Corbett was educated at the James Gillespie School and the Royal High School, Edinburgh. He did not attend university after leaving school and instead joined the Ministry of Agriculture. After two years he moved to London where his first roles were playing schoolboys due to his diminutive height of 5'1". Corbett also started to do summer seasons, intimate revues and running the bar at the Buckstone Club off Haymarket, central London, which is where he first met Barker. He met his wife, the actress and singer Anne Hart, while working at Danny La Rue's Club in London. It was here he was spotted by Frost who invited him to join Barker and Monty Python star John Cleese in The Frost Report, one of the most influential TV shows of the 1960s. One of the satirical comedy series' best-known sketches featured Corbett, Barker and Cleese. The social "class" sketch saw the comedy actors ranked in height order, which also corresponded to their class. Barker says: "I look up to him [Cleese] because he is upper class, but I look down on him [Corbett] because he is lower class. " Corbett says: "I know my place. " Following Barker's retirement in 1987, Corbett had a number of roles in the theatre, including The Seven Year Itch, Out of Order and The Dressmaker, while he also took guest roles on TV and in film. He wrote books including Ronnie Corbett's Armchair Golf, The Small Man's Guide To Life and his autobiography High Hopes. He was also a keen and proficient golfer, and a member of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. He was awarded a CBE in the 2012 New Year Honours for his services to entertainment and charity. Corbett is survived by his wife, with whom he celebrated his golden wedding anniversary last year, and the couple's two daughters, actresses Emma and Sophie Corbett.
A look back at the best of Ronnie Corbett's sketches bbc.co.uk 2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
77 77 Cat crime fighters could collar County Durham criminals A police force could become the first in the country to introduce cats in the fight against crime, after a five-year-old girl wrote to the chief constable. Eliza Adamson-Hopper contacted Durham Police chief Mike Barton suggesting cats would be good at listening out for danger and rescuing people from trees. She received a reply saying he would pass the idea on to an inspector. The force has now confirmed it will consider using felines in an as-yet unspecified role. Insp Richie Allen, of the dog support unit, said: "I can confirm the force is looking into recruiting what we believe to be the first UK police cat. "Their duties and responsibilities have not yet been agreed but if nothing else they will become the force mascot. "Of course, if it smells a rat we'll expect it to catch it. " Eliza, who has a cat called Mittens and a dog called Susie, wanted to know why the police use dogs but not cats. Her mother Cheryl Adamson, from Burnopfield in County Durham, said: "Eliza has loads of questions for everyone and I don't always know the answers. "We typed out a letter to the chief constable, she told us what to write, and we said she might not get a response because he is a busy man. " Eliza's letter read: "A police cat would be good as they have good ears and can listen out for danger. "Cats are good at finding their way home and could show policemen the way. "Cats are good at climbing trees and hunting and could rescue people that are stuck. " Mr Barton's reply, which included a drawing of his cat, thanked her for the suggestion. Ms Adamson said: "Eliza was delighted with the response, but we thought that would be the end of it. "Then the inspector from the dogs unit sent her a calendar and invited her to an open day. "
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
78 Could Brexit change the face of football in the UK? So far the arguments about the EU referendum have tended to concentrate on issues like the economy or migration. However, leading figures in football say the game could face changes if the UK votes to leave the European Union. BBC sports editor Dan Roan reports. Available to UK users only 2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
79 Quiz of the week's news It's
the Magazine's weekly news quiz - have you been paying attention to what's been going on in the world over the past seven days? If you missed last week's quiz, try it here Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
80 Rescuers dig for survivors in Kolkata New Delhi (CNN) Hundreds of rescuers combed through rubble early Friday, searching for survivors who could be trapped beneath a collapsed highway overpass in Kolkata, India. Shocked & saddened by collapse of under construction flyover in Kolkata. Took stock of the situation & rescue operations. CNN's Sumnima Udas reported from New Delhi, and CNN's Joshua Berlinger, Ralph Ellis and Greg Botelho reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Sugam Pokharel, Yazhou Sun, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
2016-04-01 07:48 Greg Botelho rss.cnn.com
81 S. Korea says North fired missile, jammed GPS systems North Korea fired another short-range missile off its east coast on Friday, South Korean officials said, as regional leaders met in Washington to discuss the threat of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. It was the latest in a series of North Korean missile launches during what has been an extended period of elevated military tension on the Korean peninsula, triggered by Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test on January 6. The launch came as the South Korean coastguard reported that around 70 fishing vessels had been forced back to port after GPS navigation issues caused by North Korean radio-wave jamming. South Korea's defence ministry said the surface- to-air missile was fired at around 12:45 pm (0345 GMT) from the eastern city of Sondok. The range and precise trajectory could not immediately be confirmed, a ministry official said. The South's Yonhap news agency said it flew 100 kilometres (60 miles) into the East Sea (Sea of Japan). The launch came in the middle of a two-day nuclear security summit being hosted by Barack Obama in Washington, at which North Korea has been the focus of the US president's talks with the leaders of China, South Korea and Japan. Obama spoke Thursday of the need to "vigilantly enforce the strong UN security measures" imposed on the North after its latest nuclear test and subsequent long-range rocket launch. Pyongyang's state media has labelled the summit a "nonsensical" effort to find fault with the North's "legitimate access to nuclear weapons". Existing UN sanctions ban North Korea from conducting any ballistic missile test, although short- range launches tend to go unpunished. Last month, the North upped the ante by test-firing two medium-range missiles, which were seen as far more provocative given the threat they pose to neighbours like Japan. Earlier Friday, Seoul said North Korea was using radio waves to jam GPS signals in South Korea, affecting scores of planes and vessels. The coastguard said 71 out of 332 fishing boats that set out for sea on Friday morning had to return after GPS problems compromised their navigation systems, Yonhap reported. "North Korea's GPS jamming is a clear act of provocation... we call for an immediate end to it," the South's defence ministry said in a statement. "If North Korea continues its GPS jamming attempts despite our we will -- with close cooperation with the international community -- make North Korea pay the price," the statement said without elaborating.
2016-04-01 07:47 Afp www.dailymail.co.uk
82 Robbie Fulks on how not to be “a guy in his 50s singing about sex or good times or even the opposite, about married contentedness” Topics: Robbie Fulks , Upland Stories , Music , Entertainment News There was a time when Robbie Fulks came off as, well, brash. At the height of empty-hat country music in the ’90s, Fulks was writing subversive throwbacks to Buck Owens, like “She Took a Lot of Pills (And Died),” “God Isn’t Real” and “Fuck This Town,” his love letter to the Nashville country music establishment. A few years later, he was taking pleasure in publicly needling Ryan Adams, and a few years after that, he played against type with the 2010 release “Happy: Robbie Fulks Plays the Music of Michael Jackson,” which was, in fact, a genuine tribute to the pop star, who had died in 2009. More recently, Fulks has toned down his satiric streak and put the emphasis on his considerable musical chops. “When I was younger, I was more interested in slashing and burning and making an impression,” Fulks says. “I feel like now it’s more appropriate for me not to strive to make an impression and just be the thing that I am and people can look at it, or not look at it.” He pared back to mostly acoustic instruments and a pronounced bluegrass flavor on his stark 2013 album “Gone Away Backward,” culled from a 50-song collection he posted online in 2010. His new album “Upland Stories” follows a similar understated path with a dozen earthy new songs recorded with Steve Albini and featuring bassist Todd Phillips, violinists Jenny Scheinman and Shad Cobb, guitarist Robbie Gjersoe, drummer Alex Hall, multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin and keyboardist Wayne Horvitz. Ever the contrarian, Fulks doesn’t attribute his new material to musical influences so much as literary inspirations. Along with James Agee and “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,” his seminal Depression-era exploration of poverty in the South, Fulks cites the writers Flannery O’Conner, Anton Chekhov and the Spanish novelist Javier Marias. It often makes for a more somber sensibility, though Fulks’ wry sense of humor remains fully intact on “Aunt Peg’s New Old Man.” The Chicago singer talked with Salon about the challenges of distilling works of literature into song ideas, the growing social consciousness in his music and why, despite his libertarian leanings, he plans to cast a vote for the status quo in November. Writers like Chekhov and Javier Marias aren’t part of the standard alt-country canon. How did they work their way into your songs? I sort of hesitate to go too far with that in music, because I feel like avoiding being seen as pretentious: “Please don’t consider me a musician but a poet,” which I find disagreeable. But once I started doing it a little bit, and then doing it more, it seemed to make more sense. It’s kind of an unexplored area. It’s an area where it’s easy to fail, but if you can pull it off, then you’re really in a high place in the Empyrean, if you know what I mean. Paul Simon has done it well, and four other people, or whatever. So it’s a high goal to aim for. But for me, it also makes sense with my age, because when you’re 52 and you’ve done 10 or 12 records, then you’ve kind of exhausted the personal angles to some extent, and I don’t want to hear a guy in his 50s singing about sex or good times or even the opposite, about married contentedness. And all the subjects like that that are sort of natural to middle-aged guys are kind of conflict-free and so to me, it makes sense to go into this other area that I really love and that is a big part of my life and take ideas and characters and storylines and let myself be guided or inspired by that. Where there particular works that inspired you? I have a couple Chekhov favorites, but there’s one called “Peasants,” where a sick guy from Moscow goes to the country to return to his people and is entirely unsuccessful and eventually dies. The story has a depressing arc, but along the way it also takes a few surprising turns into describing the community, and into the religiosity of the community, and some ancillary characters pop up and then go away. It’s that story that comes to bear on my song “Never Come Home,” which is transplanted to Tennessee. And Javiar Marias I just came to in the last two years or whenever Edward St. Alban wrote about him in The New York Times. I thought I’d better look into that guy. Like one of my friends said of NRBQ when he saw them for the first time, he said, “I didn’t realize you were allowed to do that.” And I think for me, writing like that has the same effect, that you can willfully break established traditional connections, you can play with punctuation, with chapter breaks, you can make huge dramatic plot episodes take a sentence and long winding digressions inside somebody’s head take 20 pages. You can do anything, so to me, his style is liberating. How does that sort of thing translate into your music, where you’re working in a much more concise form? The implication of that question points to where efforts to infuse music with literature often go down. And quite frequently when I’m working on these things in the first or second draft, I can just see that it’s gotten too obscure, too long, too dense, too full of 75-cent words, and so often the editing takes that same direction of either throwing away or trying to make it something simpler than it’s straining to be, something that’s maybe striving less after significance. So I guess the answer is that it frequently fails. With “Alabama at Night” and “Never Come Home,” the scenarios are the inspiration, but as you say, you don’t have the room to elaborate. And some of the actual phrases from Agee were purloined for “Alabama at Night.” He used “scoured clay” and I lifted that, and I can’t remember off-hand which other phrases. There’s two or three phrases in there. So I feel free to do that. I don’t know why. I might get sued or something. I think Bob Dylan makes you feel free to do that, he seems to lift a lot. You say that a writer your age has generally exhausted personal angles, but there do seem to be autobiographical elements in these songs. That seems to me to be a biological, well, imperative is too strong a word, but I feel this increased interest and inner push toward remembering things from a long time ago. I came across this quotation from Arthur Schopenhauer, who said the first 40 years of your life are text, and the last 30 are commentary. So I definitely felt the little leap over that divide at some point over the past couple years, where the distant past started to become very interesting compared to anything that was presently developing. I think a lot of it is that things go away. When I visit the places where old things happened to me, where I was growing up, the land is there, but not as you remember it. And the people by and large aren’t there, or if they are, they look like they’re rotting away, and actual events may as well never have happened, because they exist only in this sort of mindscape, which is also biological and temporary, apparently. I guess the temporariness of it, and the evanescence of it, become kind of morbidly fascinating.
2016-04-01 07:01 Eric R salon.com.feedsportal.com
83 How baseball got so lame: The national pastime is so white and so dreary — and is still a money machine Topics: american sports , Sports , Baseball , Major League Baseball , Latinos , African Americans , Life News , Entertainment News I grew up as a fan of the San Francisco Giants, which meant something very different then than it does now. In the 21st century, the Giants are an enormously rich and successful franchise whose fancy waterfront stadium and affluent, tech-economy fan base serve as a perfect illustration of the way baseball has been transformed — not to say gentrified, a loaded term that fits all too perfectly in this context. To say it wasn’t always that way is an understatement. None of this took place in a vacuum, to be sure: San Francisco was a frayed and downtrodden city for much of the 1970s and ‘80s and its baseball team reflected that. The Giants were perennial also-rans who struggled to draw fans to the wind-blown desolation of Candlestick Park, a concrete monstrosity that the city fathers had perversely located on an isolated peninsula in the city’s southeastern corner. We were repeated told that the team would be sold and moved to some more hospitable city: Toronto or Tampa or Las Vegas or damn near anywhere else. Only the Giants’ road games were on TV (announced by the legendarily laconic Lon Simmons), and not too many of those. Seeing a game in person either involved navigating strangled traffic and tundra-like parking lots or a slow public-transit journey involving at least one transfer. I can remember going to a game against the Houston Astros with my friend Chris from down the street. We took a bus and then a train and then another bus. Whatever the tickets cost — the price that sticks in my head is $2.75 — I guess our allowances could handle it. We plotted the journey out with our parents, but we went on our own. (Maybe our dads understood what a dire experience it was likely to be.) We were 12 years old. Was baseball in better shape, as a business or an industry or an entertainment product, when Chris and I could go to a game without adult chaperones, without buying tickets from StubHub weeks ahead of time, and without much advance planning? Or when, a few years later, I literally snuck into a World Series game at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore? (You gave a local kid a few bucks, and he showed you the hole he had cut through the cyclone fence.) Clearly not, and when culture-vulture types like me come along to proclaim that baseball is dying, its boosters have all kinds of impressive numbers at their disposal. But baseball was in a vastly different cultural position in those years, one that is difficult or impossible to quantify. Chris and I and that kid with the wire-cutters in Baltimore came along toward the end of a long period in American history when baseball served as a kind of male-coded cultural glue (although it certainly entrapped some women and girls) that transcended race, religion, socioeconomic status and geography. We felt ourselves connected, with no sense of detachment and no quotation marks, to the mythic lore and overwrought symbolism of baseball. I probably knew, at that age, the anecdote recounted in the new baseball-boosting documentary “Fastball,” about how Walter Johnson, later a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Washington Senators, was discovered playing semi-pro ball in the Snake River Valley of rural Idaho. I doubt anyone plays semi-pro baseball in the Snake River Valley today (except on the Xbox), and if anyone does they definitely don’t include the next Walter Johnson. Were we kidding ourselves, at the time, about the enduring cultural power of baseball, which was visibly fading in places like the frigid, empty bleachers of Candlestick Park? Is my backward glance at that era now tinged or occluded by middle-aged masculine nostalgia? Yes and yes. But certain things are not illusory, starting with the fact that what happened to baseball has more to do with the social segmentation, niche marketing and cultural commodification that characterize 21st-century America than with baseball itself. Baseball has been reinvented, whether deliberately or accidentally, as an immensely successful niche sport whose audience is overwhelmingly white, suburban, affluent and middle-aged or older. It has pretty much become the Republican Party of professional sports. I mean that as a metaphor: In cities like Boston and San Francisco, baseball’s core demographic in the squaresville top tenth of the Caucasian population no doubt includes plenty of liberals (although I’m going to crawl out on a limb and say that they skew toward Clinton rather than Sanders). If this transformation doesn’t pose an economic and demographic problem at the moment, and apparently will not do so into the medium term, it’s hard to imagine that it’s sustainable indefinitely. No, baseball isn’t dying, as ardent defenders like Maury Brown of Forbes constantly remind us. Whatever happened to the sport formerly known as America’s national pastime, “death” does not describe it. Major League Baseball was a $9.5 billion business in 2015, and has experienced at least a dozen years of steady revenue growth, right through the big financial crash of 2008. Some baseball insiders predict that MLB’s revenues will soon surpass those of the concussion-plagued National Football League, long the Goliath of American spectator sports. (The NFL grossed about $12 billion last year.)
2016-04-01 07:01 Andrew O salon.com.feedsportal.com
84 Food Prices Accelerate Faster Than Expected As of this morning an article by the Independant Online confirms that the price of food is accelerating faster than expected. Reminds me of the bad black horse of the apocalypse, "and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!’” The implications of the droughts and weaker Rand is of course food prices going through the roof. One solution to this is to grow your own food at home. This has also got therapeutic advantages as gardeners will tell you. The more pressing issue is how to protect your money. With the whole world teetering on an inevitable economic collapse; some economists claim could wipe out 50% of your savings very quickly. Enter the stage of Crypto Currency. Of course the best known is BitCoin which is gaining wide acceptance. Unfortunately at close to R6000 for 1 Bitcoin is a bit out of the average South Africans reach. In 2009 you could pick up one Bitcoin for less than a Rand. The good news is that a new improved version of Bitcoin has been released which has been dubbed, "the perfect coin. " This is called Capricoin which has a marketing / mining division called Vizionary. This is one feature which Bitcoin never enjoyed. Another is the length of time for Bitcoin transactions to take place. Capricoin transaction are normally completed in a matter of seconds. . . not hours. To learn about one way to protect your money go HERE
2016-04-01 07:35 www.news24.com
85 President Zuma: going, going or already gone? Though no one can put a date on it, we should keep an open mind in March 2016 about when President Zuma resigns or retires 'for reasons of health'. The election results later this year will be the ultimate decider, but it is still possible his health will have to break down earlier. As I wrote below, 'replacing' Mr Nene last December marked the effective end of Zuma, exposing him as a dangerous as well as incompetent president. But if anything could add to the need to replace him, it is his do-I-don't-I support now for hard-working and respected finance minister Mr Pravin Gordhan. The president's extraordinarily ill-judged and stubborn conduct in this has provoked defiant statements of support for Mr Gordhan from both Gwede Mantashe, Secretary General of the ANC, and the party's unfailing alliance partner, the South African Communist Party. Just as disaster - downgrading for SA to junk status - looked as if it might be avoided by the skin of the teeth, President Zuma has created a supreme crisis for the ANC. Even the most loyal and complacent rank and file member can see now the party and their leader do not live in the world alone and cannot do what they like. Obviously how long Zuma survives depends on how strong his support is among the ANC's Top Six. But we can imagine the depth of panic and simmering revolt there must be throughout the party now. *****? I would not say I ever had a sneaking regard for President Zuma; I did not. It was just that he seemed preferable to outgoing president Thabo Mbeki. I remember a TV debate at the time: viewers were invited to text to the station who they wanted to be next president. I texted the abbreviation 'ABM': Anyone but Mbeki. It was Mbeki's assumption of a know-all superiority that I found stifling, his readiness to accept as his due the status of 'intellectual' when his ideas, as on Aids, could be as scatty and unscientific as the next man's: an intelligent person is sceptical, not convinced of his own infallibility. I understood he had no alternative to supporting President Mugabe, but disliked his appearing before the cameras hand-in-hand with the Zimbabwean despot. It cocked a snook at democracy, was a contemptuous statement gratuitously made. Even Mbeki's celebrated opening speech years ago, 'I am an African', puzzled me. It did not strike me as an inclusive call; it was sectarian. Surely, following Mandela's example, I thought, and in light of the new SA's constitution, the proper way to have begun was, 'I am a South African'. It was long ago. Whether one sees it that way or not now, it is all history, whereas President Zuma is still very much with us in the present. I link these comments to an article by Tony Leon*, not because of any political allegiance, but because Mr Leon lays out SA's new situation as well as anyone. There have been very many articles across the political spectrum on how President Zuma has let his country down. For myself, who once took as at least plausible Jacob Zuma's claim to be the 'listening' one, the amiable 'people's president', compared to the humourless, calculating Mbeki, I stand now more aghast than disillusioned. Never mind any longer Zuma's many other transgressions: the man's venality; the Shaik affair and the way he dodged his own trial; the incompetent ministerial appointments; Nkandla; the sanctioning of attacks on the Public Protector. Here is a president who could set aside every consideration of rational, consultative government in the new SA's democracy and summarily fire his minister of finance in the very midst of a major economic crisis for the country. What for? How can it be explained, let alone justified? Was it really for the sake of his confidante, Dudu Myeni? Did South Africa's president really put her first, above all reflection and statecraft? Was it, as many claim, because he has sold out lock, stock and barrel to the Guptas? Was it because he is stubborn like a child and flatly refuses to take advice or allow himself to be opposed by underlings when he is Number One? This once, I break my golden rule and prophesy. Whatever the reason for his conduct, President Zuma is finished, every last shred of his credibility gone. He will go; the decision is probably already taken among those who decide these things. I part company with Mr Leon's final remark in his article: 'where exactly he will be when it ends ...' It has already ended for President Jacob Zuma. He is not president anymore. The only loose end to tie up is not, as the hashtag has it, #Zumamuststillfall, but that he has fallen and is still there. * http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/2015/12/18/hopes-on-ministers-newly-found-strength-and- muscle
2016-04-01 07:35 www.news24.com
86 Does ANC now stands for African National Corruption? PLEASE NOTE: MyNews24 is a user-generated section of News24.com. The stories here come from users. Senzo Sibindi Comments: 0 Article views: 162 Does ANC now stands for African National Corruption? 01 April 2016, 07:35 One can say it starts from the top running through to the bottom as all the ANC members now seem to be linked to the corruption scandals which have rocked the party. They are those who always plead their innocence to the public and the Secretary General Gwede Mantshe often comes to their defence. Since mid 2014 after the general election the new kids on the block EFF have been trying hard to prove that billions of rands are lost within the ruling party. First they accused the ANC of murdering the mine workers of Marikanah. This though was not really targeted at the party, it was their way to get to the Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. During those heated weeks the opposition leader Julius Malema proved this as he made some remarks which one would argue that they cited that the Deputy President was not fit to hold office of being a leader since he only knew how to conclude business deals meaning he was after money. Shortly after the Marikanah case the big one then came. This is the one of Payback the Nkandla Money. If it was a different person other than the President of the Republic who has a strong personality, this was going to have a negative impact on the person. The President stood his ground as he explained that he had nothing to do with the security upgrades at his homestead and that the money which was used to build Nkandla was taken from the family trust fund. A concerned citizen would say that Mr President you now want to use this phrase "I had nothing to do with it... " once too many times as he recently once again used it in the issue of the GUPTAS. Corruption now comes into play as it has been close to two years of Msholozi refusing to payback the money which was used on the upgrades of his homestead, but all of a sudden he makes a u-turn and says that he will now pay a certain portion of the amount which the public protector's office had requested. Isn't Mr President you said that you have nothing to do with the security upgrades, then why pay? It seems that this was taking strain on some of the senior members and cabinet ministers as few months after the sacking of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, some of them came out public with some revelations. Deputy Minister Jonas spoke out about the cabinet post which he was offered by the influential GUPTA family when it is the President who appoints ministers. This was an evidence of corruption at its best. One wonders for how long will this go on as the ANC continues to present themselves as a united front. If this continues for a little bit longer one will surely conclude that really " Birds of the same feather flock together". Senzo Sibindi - MyNews24 Get Published! UPLOAD Click here to upload your article Click here to upload your photo Click here to upload your video Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received. Follow us on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook | Read our Comments Policy
2016-04-01 07:35 www.news24.com
87 Lions v ‘Saders: Skippers the key? Cape Town – Sport24 chief writer Rob Houwing, in the next of his regular South African-focused Super Rugby previews this year, suspects that the Crusaders may just have too much nous for the Lions in their mouth-watering Johannesburg clash. That said, opinion on the outcome is notably divided among our resident experts, even as they all concur the Bulls will avenge last year’s Loftus defeat to the Cheetahs by winning the Saturday night derby in Pretoria – perhaps even with a degree of comfort. But the all-minnow meeting (for the first time) between the Kings and Sunwolves at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is another game that could go either way, and it is reflected in our hesitant tips. *Rob lies 9,464 th out of about 191,000 contestants for Super Rugby predictions on SuperBru, with a current win success rate of 76%. SPORT24 PICK OF THE CROP LIONS v CRUSADERS, Johannesburg When: Friday, 19:00 Referee: Stuart Berry (SA) TV: M-Net, SS1 SuperSport commentators: Owen Nkumane & Joel Stransky (Eng), Hennie Koortzen & Werner Swanepoel (Afrik), Kaunda Ntunja & Makhaya Jack (Xho) Weather outlook : Clear, warm, light breeze Background: This would be a strong candidate for match of the round, were it not for the hugely spicy Saturday match-up between Aussie conference leaders the Brumbies and New Zealand equivalents the Chiefs in Canberra. But it is the most appetising fixture on paper in South Africa, that’s for sure – especially with the Sharks and Stormers on byes. Was the Lions’ fabulous away victory over the otherwise rampant Chiefs a flash in the pan? This home date with the legendary Crusaders should provide an answer; if Johan Ackermann’s exciting, highly motivated charges can outsmart the seven-time champions, it will confirm that his commendable “total rugby” approach is bearing serious fruit. But a setback for the Highvelders would also spark a fresh sense of unease about the ability of SA rugby generally to live with the still-undisputed world champion New Zealanders. The Lions do have the ability to prevail here, especially if they choose their moments for attack judiciously and don’t get too carried away by a daring spirit, but at the same time the Crusaders made a major statement by raiding Kings Park last weekend and I see them just edging this one, alas. Still, our Sport24 tipsters are split right down the middle … Key head-to-head: There are other intriguing one-on-ones, like emerging Lions wing flier and Test wannabe Ruan Combrinck up against the less subtle but ever-dangerous freight train Nemani Nadolo. But this is a clash where the respective captains, WARREN WHITELEY and KIERAN READ, will be vital heartbeats of their teams, and their direct duel at No 8 has all the ingredients for a thriller. If the rangy, hard-running Whiteley holds his own (or then some?) against the multi-skilled All Black heavyweight, he will have cranked up his case for possible inheritance of the vacant Springbok captaincy, even as a certain, now French-based Duane Vermeulen won’t exactly be ready yet to surrender a spot amongst a Bok loose trio. Last result between sides: March 14, 2015: Crusaders 34 Lions 6 (Christchurch) Sport24 staff predictions: Rob Houwing: Crusaders by four; Garrin Lambley: Crusaders by one; Herman Mostert: Lions by three; Lloyd Burnard: Lions by four. SA GAME 2 BULLS v CHEETAHS, Pretoria When: Saturday, 19:15 Referee : Craig Joubert (SA) TV: M-Net, SS1 SuperSport commentators : Owen Nkumane & Joel Stransky (Eng), John van Rensburg & Jaco van der Westhuyzen (Afrik), Kaya Malotana & Alfred Mzizi (Xho) Weather outlook: Partly cloudy, very warm, light wind Background: The Bulls retained their frustrating penchant for patchy effectiveness as they staved off the limited Sunwolves with some measure of angst last time out. They may find that there is little charity for sloppiness or lack of focus from their domestic rivals on Saturday. The Cheetahs weren’t disgraced in their home loss to the Brumbies on a heavy Bloemfontein pitch, and with the going tipped to be much firmer at Loftus, may sniff an upset with their ability to run the ball from deep. But the Bulls will know that they can greatly increase the daylight between themselves and the men in white in Africa Conference 1 by coming out on top, and if they have properly recovered from jet-lag after their Singapore mini-trip should do the business. It would avenge that late-season home humiliation from these foes in 2015, when the Bulls seemed in early “holiday” mode and were thumped 42-29, leaking as many as six converted tries. I expect them to be crucially more watertight this time. Key head-to-head: Is it just me, or have the Bok stocks of JAN SERFONTEIN, once touted as SA’s new-age Danie Gerber, dipped rather violently and strangely? Once dripping in X-factor as a 19- or 20-year-old, the Bulls centre has become disappointingly head-down and robotic over the past couple of seasons; his shifting between the two midfield berths only sums up the way he has regressed, although his defence stays pretty tenacious when he puts his mind to it. Here he comes up against former Loftus colleague and Cheetahs captain FRANCOIS VENTER, and could do with a dominant showing at No 13 if he wishes to stay on the international radar in 2016. That can’t be taken for granted as Venter -- still only 24 himself until mid-April, yet in his fifth season of Super Rugby -- looks increasingly the real deal for maiden green-and-gold recognition soon. Venter has the extra task of nursing raw partner Nico Lee through this old grudge clash on Saturday. Last result between sides : June 13, 2015: Bulls 29 Cheetahs 42 (Pretoria) Sport24 staff predictions: Rob Houwing: Bulls by seven; Garrin Lambley: Bulls by 10; Herman Mostert: Bulls by seven; Lloyd Burnard: Bulls by 12. SA GAME 3 KINGS v SUNWOLVES, Port Elizabeth When: Saturday, 17:05 Referee : Rasta Rasivhenge (SA) TV: M-Net, SS1 SuperSport commentators : Matthew Pearce & Bob Skinstad (Eng), Gerrie Scheepers & Kobus Wiese (Afrik), Lonwabo Mtimka & Lungelo Payi (Xho) Weather outlook: Clear, mild, gentle breeze Background: You can only imagine how bleak the mood will be in the Friendly City if the Kings, already nought from four, crash at home to the similarly vulnerable Japanese outfit. Such a result would have disastrous consequences, I have little doubt, for gate takings later in the competition. Yet my gut feel, regrettably, is that the Sunwolves – also winless but at least boasting two bonus points – may sneak victory. I might not have said that had the Eastern Cape team not come straight off a taxing slog in New Zealand, where they put up an almighty fight against the Hurricanes in their closing tour engagement yet still emerged with very little noticeable reward in scoreboard terms. Home legs may be at risk of fourth-quarter leadenness, and that could be the cue for the fleet-footed Sunwolves to strike. Hope I’m wrong, of course. Key head-to-head: He doesn’t have to face up to a behemoth this week, but the Kings’ slight yet supremely courageous little left wing MALCOLM JAER should still have his hands pretty full defensively if the Sunwolves field their regular No 14 and Japan international AKIHITO YAMADA (their team was not yet known at the time of writing). Yamada lies third for most tries (four) in the overall Super Rugby stats so far, and joint-fifth for clean breaks. Yes, he also boasts being one of the members of the famous Japanese starting XV that scuppered the Boks in Brighton at the last World Cup … Last result between sides: No prior meetings Sport24 staff predictions: Rob Houwing: Sunwolves by two; Garrin Lambley: Kings by two; Herman Mostert: Sunwolves by three; Lloyd Burnard: Sunwolves by five. *Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
2016-04-01 07:25 www.sport24.co.za
88 Concern as US bat-killing disease jumps to west coast Wildlife officials say they are extremely concerned after a disease that has killed millions of bats has arrived on the Pacific coast of the US. Until now, white-nose syndrome has only been recorded in the eastern US but the latest case means the fungal infection has jumped 1,300 miles (2,100km). The killer pathogen, first recorded in New York in 2006, is now present in 28 states and five Canadian provinces. It has been described as the worst US wildlife health crisis in recent years. On 11 March, a hiker discovered a sick little brown bat ( Myotis lucifugus ) while walking in Washington state and handed it in to a local animal welfare centre. Two days later, the bat died. While carrying out an examination, the centre's vet noticed visual symptoms consistent with the disease and it was decided to run tests on the dead bat. David Blehert, from the US Geological Survey's (USGS) National Wildlife Center, said samples returned "strongly positive" results. He added: "We have also cultured the fungus... from tissues of the bat, and work that we are continuing to pursue is genetic characterisations of this fungus to see if it is most closely related to strains... that are known to exist in North America or whether it is perhaps more closely related to strains found elsewhere in the world. " US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) spokeswoman Catherine Hibbard said the arrival of WNS in Washington state opened "a new chapter" in efforts to tackle the disease. "We have hundreds of agencies across the country that are working to solve this problem, including our new partners from the state of Washington," she told reporters. "We do not know how this story will go or where it will end but what we do know is that we are in a much better place than we were when white-nose syndrome first hit the east coast almost a decade ago. " (Source: US Fish & Wildlife Service) White-nose syndrome (WNS) is named after the white fungus that appears on infected animals, Bats infected with the disease have been observed displaying strange behaviour during winter months, when the animals are expected to be hibernating in caves and mines. It is believed that the disease disrupts hibernation, causing the bats to fly outside into conditions that are too cold and lack food for the small mammals. The fungus that has been demonstrated to cause WNS, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (formerly known as Geomyces destructans ), thrives in dark, damp places such as caves and mines. A series of studies have painted a bleak picture for at least half of US bat species, which rely on hibernation for winter survival and are therefore potentially susceptible to the disease. Writing in the journal Science in August 2010, a team of researchers warned that some species' populations could become locally extinct within two decades . Another team estimated the loss of bat species, which help control pest populations, would cost US agriculture more than $3.7bn (£2.6bn) a year . Studies have also attempted to develop a better understanding of the fungus itself and how it affects bats in different parts of the world. A 2012 paper described how the fungus was found in populations of bats in Europe without triggering mass mortality. Earlier this month, researcher published details of a study that showed bat populations in China displayed a strong resistance to the fungal infection. They added that the findings suggested that some US bat species might develop an ability to fight the disease. US FWS national white-nose syndrome co-ordinator Jeremy Coleman said the first step after this confirmation of WNS would be to conduct surveillance near where the bat was found to determine the extent of the fungal infection in the area. Officials also confirmed in a media conference on Thursday that WNS had been confirmed in Rhode Island for the first time, a state in the New England region of the US. Follow Mark on Twitter
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
89 WT20: Kohli masterclass in vain as Windies stun India to enter final A Chris Gayle-less, but an equal and devastatingly explosive batting performance nevertheless, from the West Indies saw them beat India by seven wickets with two balls to spare in the ICC World T20 semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons (right) is watched by India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as he plays a shot during the World T20 semi-final match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. Pic/AFP When Gayle departed for five, bowled by a Jasprit Bumrah full toss) the crowd heaved a collective sigh of relief and felt it was almost impossible for the Caribbeans to chase down India's 192-2 off the remaining 18.5 overs. But that was far from the truth. Opener Johnson Charles (36-ball 52, 7x4s, 2x6s) and batsman Lendl Simmons (51-ball 82, 7x4s, 5x6s) saw the Windies tear the Indian bowling to shreds. Two ridiculous no balls aided the Windies' chase. The first by R Ashwin, who in his first over, saw Simmons edge it to short third man and Bumrah pick a neat diving catch before the TV cameras showed the offie had overstepped. Superb Simmons Simmons was on 14 at the time. Then, in the 15th over, Hardik Pandya saw his full toss slammed by Simmons straight to Ashwin at cover. The catch was taken, but Pandya's overstepping meant Simmons would live again. Simmons got a third reprieve through a tough chance on the boundary off Bumrah that was held on by a falling-over-the-rope Ravindra Jadeja, who passed the catch on to Virat Kohli. However, TV replays showed that Jadeja's foot was in contact with the boundary rope just before he passed the ball to Kohli. The Windies didn't need any more favours from fate. They hammered 20 fours and 11 sixes in a clinical show of power, ensuring at least one biggie off each of the six Indian bowlers Dhoni utilised. Nehra, Ashwin and Kohli were hit for a six each, while Bumrah gave away two and Jadeja and Pandya were slammed thrice. Simmons found an able ally in Andre Russell (43) after Marlon Samuels (8) followed Gayle to the pavilion. Together they ensured WI strolled into the final where they meet England in Kolkata on Sunday. Earlier, a decent batting performance clubbed with a couple of slip-ups in the field by the West Indies saw Kohli top score with a 47-ball 89 (11x4s, 1x6). Lucky Kohli Kohli would have gone for just one had 'keeper Dinesh Ramdin or Dwayne Bravo hit the stumps when he tried to sneak a bye. But Kohli survived and together with Dhoni, put on what seemed like a match-wining 64-run stand off just 27 balls, after openers Rohit Sharma (43 off 31 balls, 3x4s, 3x6s) and Ajinkya Rahane (35-ball 40, 2x4s), replacing Shikhar Dhawan in the side, had got the hosts off to a flier. Brief scores: India: 192/2 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 89 not out, Rohit Sharma 43, Ajinkya Rahane 40; Samuel Badree 1/26). West Indies: 196/3 in 19.4 overs (Lendl Simmons 83 not out, Johnson Charles 52, Andre Russell 43 not out; Ashish Nehra 1/25).
2016-04-01 07:07 By Ashwin www.mid-day.com
90 Anbang unexpectedly scraps $14bn bid for Starwood Hotels Chinese insurance firm Anbang has unexpectedly abandoned its takeover offer for Starwood Hotels, ending a three-week bidding war with Marriott. Anbang had raised its all-cash offer for Starwood to $14bn (£9.75bn) it sought to challenge the merger between the hotel groups. However, the bid is being scrapped because of "market considerations" a statement released on Thursday said . According to reports, there were questions over its financing sources. Anbang has been making an aggressive push into the US property market over the last few years but little is known about the company . The exit of Anbang from the bidding process means that Marriott is one step closer to becoming the world's largest hospitality group. However, the whole saga has highlighted the growing role of Chinese companies in global mergers and acquisitions. There have been $92bn worth of foreign takeovers by Chinese companies this year, according to data provider Dealogic. Starwood - which owns several hotel brands, including the Sheraton, Westin and St Regis - saw its shares fall 4.5% in after hours trade in New York. Marriott shares lost 5%, showing some investors may be concerned the firm now has to pay an additional $1bn to purchase Starwood because of the bidding war.
2016-04-01 01:06 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
91 The danger with streaming and driving A police officer is running an unofficial social media campaign to stop people streaming and driving. How dangerous is this fad? Neil is a serving police sergeant, a prolific Twitter user, and today he's a very dangerous driver. He is in a dark blue hatchback and the speedometer is edging over 70mph. There are motorway bridges, slower traffic zooms past and recedes into his rear view mirror, and Neil has deliberately taken his eyes off the road. While he is driving Neil records video on a smartphone stuck to the windscreen. As he records he looks at the phone and not the motorway, and the car drifts dangerously out of the lane. Fortunately for other road users, Neil is in the Digi-car at the Transport Research Laboratory in Berkshire. It is a driving simulator, and Neil is using it to demonstrate the effect of streaming and driving in a way that does not endanger other motorists. Neil, who does not want to give his surname, is also known as @SgtTCS on Twitter and is the organiser of an unofficial online campaign called #dontstreamanddrive, which aims to discourage people from recording or streaming video from their mobile phones while driving. Racing driver Lewis Hamilton recently attracted criticism for a post on social app Snapchat in which he appeared to record a video-selfie on his phone while riding a motorbike in New Zealand. And there are plenty of non-celebrities doing the same and sharing on social media. As the numbers live streaming grow, the #dontstreamanddrive campaign wants people to know driving while streaming can be unsafe. Neil noticed that increasing numbers of people were live streaming on the Periscope app from their phones while behind the wheel. Other drivers were recording video-selfies using apps like Snapchat and posting them online. "I've seen several broadcasts where in their commentary they say: 'I'm in the car and I'm driving and I'm scoping and it's probably really illegal, but I'm a safe driver so we should be OK.' They're not OK. If you are a streaming driver you're not a safe driver because fundamentally your attention isn't where it should be. " He is particularly concerned about the opportunities for interaction some apps provide - he has spotted drivers not just performing for the camera but responding to comments. "Some people who I've observed are into the social media celebrity status and they want to be popular," he says. "In some cases they're singing, doing little performances. " Others want to communicate with their audience: "You can see them reading the comments - you can see their eyes are off the road. " Where the drivers seem to be based in the UK, Neil has occasionally referred the videos to local police forces for investigation. If they are not touching the phone, he says, it's not a mobile phone offence, but if they're driving dangerously other offences may apply. "Driving without due care and attention, not in proper control of the vehicle, dangerous driving, and if the consequences are fatal - death by dangerous driving," he says. In other cases he replies to them on Twitter to ask them to consider what they are doing. In Hamilton's case police in New Zealand said there was insufficient evidence to take any action, and his team declined to respond to a BBC request for comment. "I have tried to contact him on Twitter to see whether he wants to join the campaign and do something for road safety - he hasn't replied to me yet," Neil says. At the Transport Research Laboratory, Neil's efforts to record video while driving had a clear effect on his safety. Watching from a nearby control room Prof Nick Reed, observes that Neil strayed out of lane compared with an earlier drive where he wasn't streaming and driving. His reaction times also worsened. "It would be the difference between having an accident and avoiding an accident, or the difference between a fatal accident or an injury-only accident," says Reed. There are no specific figures for the risks of streaming mobile video while driving, but mobile phone use is well known to be dangerous. According to Reed, the reaction times of people using their phones are "worse than being at the legal limit for alcohol". Official figures show that using mobile phones while driving accounted for 21 fatal accidents in 2014. Currently there is a consultation on the introduction of stiffer penalties for people using hand-held mobiles. Alice Bailey, from the road safety charity Brake, says she would like to see those penalties increase and that she supports #dontstreamanddrive. "You're actually three times more likely to crash if you do a second complex task while you're driving," she argues. The Department for Transport advice on streaming and driving is this: "The message is clear - keep your eyes on the road, not on your phone, or you could end up being banned from the road. " Neil's unofficial campaign has attracted support from police and road safety Twitter accounts across the country, as well as plenty of ordinary drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. He hopes in the end that the reaction on social media may help make streaming and driving socially unacceptable. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.
2016-04-01 07:02 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
92 Inside a hijack: The unheard stories of the Pan Am 73 crew Nearly 30 years after the hijack of Pan Am Flight 73 at Karachi airport, six of the plane's crew have spoken to the media for the first time. "My first instinct was to open the wing exit and slip out with as many passengers as I could, but I realised that this would leave the rest of the passengers vulnerable," then flight attendant Nupoor Abrol told BBC News. Security forces laid siege to the New York-bound plane for 16 hours at Karachi airport after the jet was taken over by Palestinian militants on 5 September 1986. There was a bloody end - 22 people killed and about 150 injured. It shocked the world, and is the subject of a newly released film , but the surviving crew have until now remained silent. While they relayed the events to a private FBI meeting a week after the hijack, and to a parole hearing for the lead hijacker in 2005, this is the first time they have shared details with the media. They also shed light on the last few hours of Neerja Bhanot, their colleague who died in the attack and is the subject of the new film. They are breaking this silence now, they say, because they want to honour and acknowledge the vital roles played by all on board, most of whom are not known to the public. "The hijack is far from over for me and my colleagues. Some of us, passengers and crew alike, are still struggling with the skeletons of the past, trying to fix the puzzle of incidents, sequences, people who were involved in the chains of events," says Nupoor. "The stories may differ but the spirit remains the same. " It was just before 06:00 and Pan Am Flight 73, on a stopover in Karachi from Mumbai, was scheduled to continue on to Frankfurt, en route to New York. There were 14 flight attendants on board, 12 of whom were preparing for take-off. Outside, four gunmen had sped on to the tarmac in a van disguised as airport security. The men entered the Boeing 747, firing shots into the air. Nupoor saw them shoot near the feet of a colleague, shouting at her to lock the door. Flight attendant Sherene Pavan, who was out of sight of the militants, heard the commotion, reached for the intercom and pressed the emergency number to the cockpit. The pilot picked up on her second attempt and she relayed the hijack code. Fellow attendant Sunshine Vesuwala saw one of the hijackers grab a colleague, Neerja Bhanot, and put a gun to her head. And then another militant, his AK-47 and grenades in clear view, instructed Sunshine to take him to the captain. The cockpit was empty. "I noticed immediately that the escape devices in the cockpit had been deployed. I noticed that the evacuation hatch on the ceiling of the cockpit was open, but I pretended not to. I wanted to give the pilots time to escape in case they were still in the process of climbing down the ropes outside the plane. The hijacker didn't seem to know much about the plane so he didn't look for it," says Sunshine. "Many have criticised the pilots for leaving the rest of the crew behind, but I was relieved when I saw the pilots were gone, as we were all safer on the ground than we would be in the air. And in any case, at least the three pilots were safe. Three lives would be saved. " Dilip Bidichandani, another steward, is adamant that the pilots' escape actually saved more lives. "The pilots evacuating the airplane… meant that we were not at the mercy of the terrorists, who could have instructed the plane to be flown into a building, or even blown up whilst in flight. " The gunmen's plan was to force the pilots to fly them to Cyprus and Israel, where other members of their militant group were incarcerated on terror charges. Outside on the tarmac, Pan Am's Karachi director Viraf Doroga used a megaphone to begin negotiations with the hijackers. He told the four men that the airport authorities were looking for pilots to fly them where they needed to go. Meanwhile, inside the plane, 29-year-old American passenger Rajesh Kumar was pulled out of his seat and made to kneel in front of one of the open doors, with a gun to his head. When no pilot materialised within the hour, Mr Kumar was shot and kicked out of the plane. "This changed everything. It showed they were ruthless killers," says Sunshine. Around four hours into the siege, the hijackers began trying to identify the Americans on board. The Abu Nidal Organisation (ANO), which they were members of, was opposed to US and Israeli policy in the Middle East. Sunshine, Madhvi Bahuguna and another flight attendant began collecting passports, quietly avoiding collecting any that were American. They then went through the bags of passports they had collected, secretly sifting out any remaining American ones and tucking them under their seats or concealing them in their clothing. Mike Thexton, a passenger on the plane, describes the act in his book What Happened to The Hippy Man? as "extremely brave, selfless and clever". "I may be biased but I feel that day proved that the flight attendants on board were some of the best in the industry. " Having failed to find an American, the militants settled for someone British. Mike was made to sit on the floor, and like the other passengers, keep his hands above his head. Aside from one sharp kick, he says, he was not physically mistreated and eventually escaped with others in the later chaos. Sherene and Sunshine were the cabin crew who spent the most time with lead hijacker Zaid Hassan Abd Latif Safarini. He repeatedly led either Sunshine or Sherene at gunpoint up to the upper deck cockpit, using them as human shields while he peeked round them to have a look outside. "On occasion he would hold my hair, force my face to the window and ask what I could see on the tarmac. He said he was looking for American fighter planes," says Sherene. Meherjee Kharas, a 28-year-old Pan Am mechanic on board, was forced to make radio contact with negotiators outside. At this stage the hijackers still believed a pilot would be found to fly the plane for them. Over the next few hours on the upper deck, Safarini let his guard down several times, Sunshine says. He joked and flirted, invited her to go with him to Cyprus, and promised to teach her to swim. Sunshine remained alert. At one point she looked longingly at the emergency axe in a glass box in the cockpit. Safarini, mid-joke, caught her and immediately pointed the gun at her head. "Don't even think about it," he said. Eventually the militants threatened that, as a pilot had not materialised, a passenger would be shot every 15 minutes. Nupoor tried to comfort the passengers around her while her colleague Dilip Bidichandani took round sandwiches and Neerja distributed water. "That day, knowingly or unknowingly, we came together as a team and played our parts to the best of our ability," says Massey Casper, another steward. Although the hijackers had closed the doors and lowered the shutters earlier, the air conditioning and lights had been on. As evening set in, the on-board power supply started to dwindle, the lights got dimmer and the cool air stopped circulating. Meherjee, the mechanic, told Safarini that the emergency power would last 15 minutes or so before the aircraft would be plunged into darkness. Sherene says she knew then that time was running out. When the lights did go out, all the flight attendants and passengers were in the middle section of the cabin, several seated on the ground in the aisles and near the doors. The gunmen positioned themselves on either side of the aisles. "They had lost patience. They let out a war cry," says Sunshine, "and began firing into the crowd. There were huge streaks of light breaking the darkness. And screams. " Sherene saw that mechanic Meherjee had been killed. In the chaos and darkness, at least three doors had been opened, though it is not clear by whom. The door nearest the wing had been opened in manual, which meant that the emergency slide did not deploy. It was a short jump to reach the wing of the plane. Many went for it. Nupoor and Madhvi slipped off the edge of the wing, fracturing bones as they hit the tarmac around 20 feet (6 metres) below. Sunshine and Dilip were also on the wing, but in the darkness couldn't gauge the distance of the drop. They saw another door had been deployed in automatic, which meant that the emergency slide was inflated. They climbed back in through the door they had come through, and along with Sherene and another colleague, assisted and redirected passengers to the inflated slide. Massey had already exited down the slide just moments earlier, taking three unaccompanied children with him. Then, when all the passengers were off the wing, the crew did something remarkable. Not hearing any more gunfire, but not knowing where the gunmen were, they went back into the dark plane to look for survivors. That's when Sunshine saw Neerja. Neerja had been shot in her hip and was bleeding heavily, but was conscious. Sunshine called Dilip over to help, and the two carried Neerja to the emergency slide. They pushed her down first, then jumped out themselves. Sherene, and another colleague Ranee Vaswani, were the last two hostages to leave the plane. Three of the hijackers were fleeing the airport when they were caught by airport security. Safarini was still on board when Pakistan's security forces entered the plane. Neerja's colleagues say she was still alive when she arrived at Karachi's Jinnah Hospital. "It was chaotic, like a war zone, in there. Neerja may still be alive if she'd been cared for right away," says Sunshine. "I didn't see medical facilities at the airport besides minor first aid… The hospital was several kilometres away from the airport," says Dilip. "Neerja was put into the ambulance without a stretcher. " Once they finally got to the hospital, the chaos continued, Sherene says. "Neerja's life may have been saved were conditions in the hospital better. " After a short break all the Flight 73 crew returned to Pan Am for at least a few years. They occasionally worked the same flight and ran into each other at layovers. They didn't discuss the hijack. All have coped in different ways. Two of the six remain in the industry. During their interviews with the BBC, they stressed that there was no single hero that day, that crew members not interviewed played an equally important role, and that they want survivors of terror attacks like 9/11 and Paris to know that life goes on. They also want people to know they dearly miss their colleagues Neerja Bhanot and Meherjee Kharas. "Survivors [of such atrocities] are living each day with the memories," says Madhvi. She hopes that, in speaking out, "we can all connect through our survival stories and form a fabric of power and strength going forward".
2016-03-31 18:55 BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
93 New tech speeds up TV shows so you can binge even more! Cape Town - TV addicts and serial binge- watchers can now consume even more series and movies thanks to amazing new technology. ShowMax , the internet TV service launched in South Africa in August 2015, is trialing a new service called "power bingeing". Based on technology originally developed to reduce data consumption while watching video via a mobile connection, this new service allows users to speed up TV shows and movies by as much as 42%. This is done without impacting voice or video quality. Mike Raath, ShowMax Chief Technology Officer said: "The Wall Street Journal did a story February last year on major networks speeding up TV shows by almost 8% to fit in additional commercials. Coincidentally, we’d been grappling with the affordability of mobile data and how this impacts internet TV usage in Africa. That’s when it hit us – if we speed up shows, our customers will use less data. " A significant proportion of verbal communication is made up of pauses and other non-lexical vocables. Fillers such as ‘uh’, ‘erm’, and ‘ah’ can actually be removed without impacting the substance of a conversation. ShowMax has developed proprietary technology to achieve this, speeding up conversation without causing a ‘helium voice’ effect. "Our first attempts sounded like chipmunks on speed, but the engineers cracked the voice issue surprisingly quickly. Speeding up the video was much tougher. To be honest, everything we tried looked pretty-much like an episode of Benny Hill," said Raath. The answer came from a study on Critical Flicker Frequency (CFF). CFF is the threshold at which light flickers so quickly that it’s impossible to discern discrete flashes and instead one sees a steady glow. "By manipulating frame rates and removing those beyond the perception limit of humans, we’ve managed to increase the speed of video without the characteristic jerky motion that you’d expect," said Raath. Catering to the needs of binge viewers, ShowMax has now added a ‘power binge’ play button to all of its apps. In a typical five-hour viewing marathon, this button will allow the viewer to see three additional TV show episodes. The link below gives a demonstration of sped-up content vs the original: "We’re on a roll. It’s amazing how innovation borne of necessity can lead to such unexpected outcomes. If you’d have told me a year ago I’d be putting out a press release on this, I’d have said you were having a joke," concludes Raath. *Channel24 is part of Media24, a subsidiary of Naspers.
2016-04-01 06:40 www.channel24.co.za
94 5 reasons why Hillary Clinton’s first New York ad missed the mark Topics: AlterNet , Elections 2016 , Hillary Clinton , New York , Democratic primary , news , Politics , Video , Politics News Hillary Clinton has released her first New York ad in anticipation of the April 19 primary. The 30- second spot features a diverse array of people, presumably New Yorkers, as Clinton narrates: While the ad is as stylish as a Benetton commercial, it is problematic for several reasons. 1. Bernie Sanders, her main competition, isn’t the focus. The ad hones in on Donald Trump’s bigotry and violent rallies. But New York is a closed primary state and hasn’t voted for a Republican candidate in a presidential election in over 30 years. 2. Trump had a small hand in the rebuilding of the Twin Towers. As a first-term senator, Clinton was instrumental in securing $21 billion in funding for the World Trade Center site’s redevelopment after 9/11. On the other hand, Donald Trump “became the most prominent backer of a plan to rebuild Manhattan’s World Trade Center,” reported Business Insider. Donald Trump’s initial plan , to rebuild the towers exactly the same but with stronger material, was largely nixed, with the exception of the 9/11 Memorial.
2016-04-01 07:01 Alexandra Rosenmann salon.com.feedsportal.com
95 The Times & The Sunday Times Get the story behind the headlines with 12 weeks for £12 With analysis from Henry Winter, Mike Atherton and Stuart Barnes. Get the story behind the headlines with 12 weeks for £12 From the FTSE 100 to SMEs to entrepreneurs. Get the story behind the headlines with 12 weeks for £12.
2016-04-01 05:25 www.thetimes.co.uk
96 Categories Archives Take a look at the list of this weekend’s planned roadwork and lane closures around metro Atlanta’s interstates, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation. Click here to get real-time updates on traffic conditions around the metro area Follow @AJCWSBTraffic on Twitter to get those updates on the go State Routes I-285 • One right westbound lane at Powers Ferry Road in Cobb County will close for construction beginning Friday at 9 p.m. It will reopen Saturday at 5 a.m. I-75 • One right lane of Hickory Grove Road at I-75 in Cobb County will be closed down with flagging for construction beginning Saturday at 9 p.m. It will reopen Sunday at 5 a.m. • One northbound left lane from Mt. Carmel to Jodeco in Fulton County has been closed since Monday for construction. It will reopen Sunday at 5 a.m. • Two left lanes closed from Hudson Bridge Road to Flippen Road in Fulton County Thursday at 9 p.m. They will reopen Saturday at 5 a.m. I-20 • Two right eastbound lanes from Fulton Industrial Boulevard to the I-285 southound ramp in Fulton County will close for deep milling and patching on the road. I-575 • One left northbound lane will close from Hickory Grove to Ga. 92 in Cobb County for construction from Saturday at 9 p.m. until Sunday at 5 a.m. There are no comments yet. Be the first to post your thoughts. Sign in or register.
2016-04-01 07:04 commuting.blog.ajc.com
97 The 93 Global Energy Billionaires Of 2016 - In Photos: The 93 Global Billionaires In Oil And Energy, 2016 Here we present the 93 global billionaires who have made their fortune (or at least a good chunk of it) in the energy industry. We cast a big net in order to capture everyone from Elon Musk, whose Tesla Motors is building new battery technologies, to Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway operates power plants. These energy billionaires include 41 Americans and 18 Russians, while their ages range from 33 for Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law Kirill Shamalov to 100 for Standard Oil heir David Rockefeller. Whether it’s oil sands, wind turbines, pipelines, coal, solar, trading and deal making, these tycoons control more than $400 billion in global capital. How many have you heard of? - By Chris Helman, with reporting by Forbes wealth staff. Photo: Elon Musk photo by Scott Olson, 2015 Getty Images
2016-04-01 07:02 Jeremy Maxie www.forbes.com
98 Virginia State Trooper, suspect killed in bus stop shooting RICHMOND, Va. (WXIA) - A Virginia State Trooper died in a Thursday afternoon shooting at the Greyhound Bus Station in Richmond, VA. The gunman was also killed in the shooting, which injured at least two others. According to a Virginia State Police spokesperson, the suspect opened fire on an officer at the bus station on North Boulevard at about 2:45 p.m. State troopers were conducting a training exercise at the Greyhound Bus Station. During the drill, someone pulled out a gun and shot the trooper in the chest. Other troopers returned fire, killing the suspect. Officials later identified the trooper who was killed as Chad Dermyer. Prior to joining the State Police, Trooper Dermyer had been a US Marine. He leaves behind a wife and two children. "I had my hand on the door handle when I heard two gunshots go off," said a witness. "I didn't think they were gunshots, but then there were like five, maybe ten more after that. And I could see the muzzle flash through the tinted door, so I ran out of there. " The shooting victims were taken to Richmond's VCU Medical Center. Bus traffic to locations out of Richmond, including toward Atlanta, has been canceled. Greyhound says to check their website for updates as they have them available. Governor Terry McAuliffe said in a statement Thursday that he has offered resources to the state police and Richmond. "Our public safety team and I will continue to monitor the situation and support State Police and local authorities in their response and investigation of this incident," the governor said. Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones issued a statement saying he was being briefed on the situation. The Greyhound Bus Station is located west of the city’s downtown area, across from The Diamond, Richmond’s minor league baseball stadium and within a former industrial area. It is located on a main thoroughfare connecting a residential district to the stadium and nearby restaurants. Brendan Hamilton told the Richmond Times-Dispatch he was about to walk into the station when he heard two loud bangs, then saw flashes of light. He told the newspaper he then heard at least five more bangs. People then started to run out of the building, said Hamilton, 28, who was visiting from Baltimore. Vincent Smith was working next door to the Greyhound station when he heard sirens and saw police cars buzzing by. “The police units just poured in like a river,” said Smith, who works at the U-Haul Moving and Storage facility. “I went to the end of the lot and there must have been 30 units just a block away.” Smith said he saw police officers carrying shields and assault weapons. An officer came by and ordered him and his co-workers to stay inside and lock the doors until they’re told it was safe again. By late afternoon, he said he had been locked inside for about an hour and a half. City Councilwoman Reva Trammell called it “the saddest day in the city of Richmond.” “State troopers doing their job and innocent people shot,” she said. “Why? This was a senseless act.” (© 2016 WXIA)
2016-04-01 06:26 Michael King rssfeeds.11alive.com
99 Church organisation to deliver King Dalindyebo pardon petition Cape Town – The Council of Churches South Africa International is expected to deliver a petition to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, on Friday, calling for a presidential pardon and the release of King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo. The Council will gather outside of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology campus in Cape Town. Dalindyebo, the jailed AbaThembu king, is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence at the East London Maximum Correctional Centre. Dalindyebo handed himself over at the Mthatha Correctional Centre in December 2015 after unsuccessfully trying several legal avenues to avoid serving his time. He was then transferred to the East London Maximum Correctional Centre. In 2009, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for culpable homicide, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, arson and kidnapping. He was granted bail pending the outcome of his appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal. In October 2015, the SCA set aside his culpable homicide conviction and reduced his sentence to 12 years. His crimes involved the treatment he meted out to some of his subjects in 1995 and 1996.
2016-04-01 06:21 www.news24.com
100 7M of 10M overseas Pinoys can vote–DFA At least 7 million out of the approximately 10 million Filipinos abroad can qualify as registered voters, according to estimates of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Overseas Voting Secretariat. The number is based on the registered Filipinos who live and work abroad, most of whom have acquired foreign citizenship. Filipinos who acquired foreign citizenship were urged to apply for dual citizenship to register for overseas voting. The DFA said it has trained over 500 personnel to assist staff and officers in 30 Philippine embassies and consulates to hold the April 9 absentee voting for the 2016 national elections. There are two ways Filipinos can vote abroad in both presidential and senatorial elections: one, by signing up in the Philippine embassies and consulates; and two, in government offices such as Philippine Overseas Employment Administration before they leave for work abroad. Figures from the DFA overseas voting office obtained by the Inquirer showed that the 1.37 million registered voters for the April 9 absentee voting for presidential elections represents only a small chunk of the population of Filipinos who can qualify for the absentee voting. The document also revealed that Filipinos in Europe showed the least interest in participating in the Overseas Absentee Voting, with only 42.32 percent or 88,524 new registered voters compared with the DFA target of 204,350. Filipinos in the Middle East showed the highest interest in absentee voting this year, with 336,202 new registered voters or 109.51 percent of the DFA target of 307,000. There are three modes of voting for Filipinos abroad to increase voting turnout, the DFA said. For those in Arab countries, registered voters will have 90 days to cast their votes starting April 9. At the same time, registered voters in the United States, Europe and Singapore will receive ballots by mail, which they can fill up and return by mail to the Philippine embassies and consulates. Embassies and consulates in several countries have also asked host governments to allow them to conduct field voting in areas frequented by Filipinos. In the last 12 years, absentee voting has been conducted in Philippine embassies and consulates.
2016-04-01 06:15 Estrella Torres globalnation.inquirer.net
Total 100 articles. Created at 2016-04-01 12:03