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Total 100 articles, created at 2016-08-05 06:01 1 Obama: Islamic State likely to continue to threaten US

(1.02/2) WASHINGTON — The Islamic State group will probably continue to be a threat to the US even after it is ousted from key strongholds in Iraq and Syria, President Barack Obama said Thursday, 2016-08-05 06:00 3KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 2 Iran Claimed Months Ago US Paid A Ransom, Nobody Listened (0.01/2) The Obama administration has spent the last several days claiming that a $400 million cash payment to the Islamic Republic of Iran had nothing to do with the coinciding release of four American hostag 2016-08-05 05:23 3KB dailycaller.com 3 Harvard Republicans Trash Trump Republicans at Harvard University are rejecting Donald Trump's (0.01/2) candidacy and will not support him for president. It's the first time in 128 years that the Harvard Republican Club, the country's ol 2016-08-05 05:23 3KB dailycaller.com 4 What is accelerationism? Owen Smith vs Jeremy Corbyn: play along with Labour leadership debate bingo (0.01/2) If you're befuddled by leftie political terminology, you're not alone. The Staggers dons a tin hat and investigates. 2016-08-05 04:16 4KB www.newstatesman.com 5 How the interest rate cut affects you How does the Bank of England's decision to cut interest rates to (0.01/2) 0.25% affect savers, borrowers and pensioners? 2016-08-05 04:19 6KB www.bbc.co.uk 6 ISIS using Telegram app to plot attacks on US bases in Middle East – Israeli hackers — RT News Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has issued a call to target airbases used by the US in the Middle East, an Israeli cyber- intelligence company warned, after it allegedly hacked into the terror group's Telegram communication system. 2016-08-05 06:00 2KB www.rt.com 7 Kouga’s new mayor vows to ‘clean up’ problems the 'ANC never took care of’ Elza van Lingen is rolling up her sleeves‚ anticipating a lot of hard work during her stint as the first Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor of the rural Kouga Municipality in the Eastern Cape. 2016-08-05 06:00 4KB www.timeslive.co.za

8 Austria & Turkey in EU membership spat — RT News Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern has urged the EU to halt membership talks with Turkey following Ankara’s crackdown in the wake of the failed July coup. Turkey’s EU affairs minister said the statements were “disturbing” and “similar to the far right.” 2016-08-05 06:00 3KB www.rt.com 9 Nelson Mandela Bay residents divided over DA gains Nelson Mandela Bay residents were divided about the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) leap ahead of the African National Congress (ANC) in early local government election results on Thursday. 2016-08-05 06:00 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 10 New Japanese nuclear power plant project given go ahead by local authorities — RT News Yamaguchi prefecture in Japan has renewed a landfill license for construction of a new nuclear power plant. The license was halted after the Fukushima disaster. The renewal comes amid heated debate on whether Japan needs new reactors at all. 2016-08-05 06:00 2KB www.rt.com 11 India considering purchase of Russian transport aircraft worth $2bn — RT Business New Delhi is in talks with Moscow to acquire a number of Russian- made Ilyushin transport aircraft for its Air Force; Izvestia daily reported citing its sources. The total value of the contract could be as much as $2 billion. 2016-08-05 06:00 2KB www.rt.com 12 ISIS wants ‘loads of attacks in England, Germany & France,’ jailed jihadist says — RT News A former Islamic State jihadist, German-born Harry Sarfo, has revealed that the terrorist group is actively seeking volunteers in Germany and the UK to carry out “loads of attacks at the same time in England, Germany and France.” 2016-08-05 06:00 4KB www.rt.com 13 Raw footage shows confusion, fear inside smoke-filled Emirates plane after crash-landing (VIDEO) — RT News Harrowing raw footage from inside the Emirates plane that crash- landed at Dubai International Airport and burst into flames has emerged online. 2016-08-05 06:00 1KB www.rt.com

14 Test for ANC as South Africans vote in local elections South Africans voted Wednesday in closely-contested municipal elections that could deal a heavy blow to the African National Congress (ANC) that has ruled since leading the struggle against apartheid. 2016-08-05 06:00 4KB www.timeslive.co.za 15 Microsoft accidentally emails press coverage plans to Gizmodo Sending an email to an unintended recipient is something that anyone who’s ever worked in an office has had to go through. This time around, someone from Microsoft is probably getting an earful 2016-08-05 06:00 1KB technology.inquirer.net 16 Grain-sized implant could one day control prosthetic body parts While most people will cringe at the thought of implanting a piece of technology under their skin, researchers believe it’s the future. In fact, they’ve created a grain-sized sensor implant to 2016-08-05 06:00 1KB technology.inquirer.net 17 Trump conflict overshadows attacks on Clinton foreign policy PORTLAND, Maine — Donald Trump's warning that the November election might be rigged is "ridiculous," President Barack Obama declared on Thursday, wading deeper into the 2016 2016-08-05 06:00 5KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 18 Rosalyn D'Mello: Drinking in the spirit of a new place As a traveller, sampling the local alcohol is the most intimate way to acquaint yourself with a place, be it Goa’s feni or Austalian wine 2016-08-05 06:00 4KB www.mid-day.com 19 mid-day editorial: Need a bridge of solutions, not promises The state witnessed a gruesome tragedy on the Mumbai-Goa highway on Tuesday after a British-era bridge over the river Savitri collapsed, drowning several vehicles and passengers within 2016-08-05 06:00 2KB www.mid-day.com 20 Guess what happened next: Facebook battles ‘clickbait’ NEW YORK — Facebook is taking another stab at ridding users' news feeds of "clickbait," the links and headlines that ask readers to "guess what happened next" but 2016-08-05 06:00 2KB technology.inquirer.net 21 2 dead, 1 hurt in trike, truck collision in Albay LEGAZPI CITY -- At least two were killed in a vehicular accident in Daraga town in Albay on Thursday. Senior Inspector Maria Louisa Calubaquib, information officer of Bicol police, said in a 2016-08-05 06:00 1KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 22 Sonia Gandhi undergoing treatment for shoulder injury Congress President Sonia Gandhi, admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital following dehydration and fever, is also undergoing treatment for a shoulder injury, said a doctor 2016-08-05 06:00 1KB www.mid-day.com 23 Mumbai: Portion of building collapses in Girgaum, residents rescued A portion of a building collapsed in Girgaum late on Thursday night injuring one. The injured woman has been taken to GT Hospital while the fire brigade has rescued three others 2016-08-05 06:00 1KB www.mid-day.com 24 Mumbai police arrest contractors for parking ticket racket After BMC found out about the illegal collections in its pay and park facilities in 'A' ward, the Mumbai police on Thursday arrested the contractors involved in the matter. The accused were produced before a magistrate who has remanded them to police custody till Saturday 2016-08-05 06:00 1KB www.mid-day.com 25 'Rude' Maharashtra minister gets flak for 'selfie' at collapsed bridge Maharashtra minister Prakash Mehta on Thursday got flak from all quarters -- ally, opposition and social media -- for clicking a selfie at the bridge that collapsed in Savitri river and later misbehaving with media persons 2016-08-05 06:00 2KB www.mid-day.com 26 Mudslide leaves 200 tourists trapped in Lavasa near Pune With heavy rains battering Pune district for the last 48 hours, a mudslide has blocked the route leading to Lavasa, trapping around 200 people in the resort township 60 km from Pune 2016-08-05 06:00 2KB www.mid-day.com

27 Digong: End ‘endo,’ or I kill you After silencing drug suspects, the Punisher may soon train his guns—literally—on “endo” business owners. Harping on his campaign pledge, President Duterte has issued a stern warning to 2016-08-05 05:39 3KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 28 Wet weather may make weekend traffic worse The only thing worse than bad weather may be bad traffic. It’s too bad both are expected this weekend. The good news is you won’t be sitting in traffic by yourself in the rain. Here are your trouble spots: Northwest Corridor Express Lanes I-75 One... 2016-08-05 05:22 1KB commuting.blog.myajc.com 29 Free aging cons, decongest jails Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto called on President Duterte on Thursday to decongest the country’s rotting and cramped jails, saying old and ailing convicts should be freed to give way to scores 2016-08-05 05:37 1KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 30 DARPA researching camera technology that can see around walls — RT America If you’re sick of having to move around corners to see what’s behind them, you may have been born at the right time. DARPA, the US military’s advanced research arm, says it will have developed a camera capable of seeing around corners in as little as four years. 2016-08-05 05:24 2KB www.rt.com 31 Pimentels bat for federalism, PH-style We should adopt the system but adapt it in the local context. Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and his father, former Senate President Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., on 2016-08-05 05:36 2KB newsinfo.inquirer.net 32 Gang rape videos on sale in India as sex crimes against women soar — RT News Shops in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh provide their customers not only with basic goods, but also with graphic gang rape videos. The state’s recent increase in sexual assaults has outraged the public and may drive the chief minister to resign. 2016-08-05 05:24 2KB www.rt.com 33 Buying Justice: Integrity Of A High Court When attorney Michael Fuller's private Lear jet landed in West Virginia in June 2016, he brought $1.3 million worth of unwelcome memories with him. Fuller is a named partner at the Mississippi- base 2016-08-05 05:23 11KB dailycaller.com

34 VA Employee Defrauded Taxpayers A top benefits appeals manager at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) didn’t show up for work for six months but kept cashing his federal paycheck as he opened and operated a motorcycle apparel 2016-08-05 05:23 5KB dailycaller.com 35 Gold King Owner 'Disheartened' 1 Year After EPA Spill An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) crew spilled three million gallons of toxic waste from Colorado's Gold King Mine into western rivers one year ago Friday, but little has since come from the d 2016-08-05 05:23 6KB dailycaller.com 36 Russell Square stabbings: Darlene Horton named as victim The US citizen killed in a knife attack in central London is named by police as 64-year-old Darlene Horton. 2016-08-05 04:19 4KB www.bbc.co.uk 37 One dead in Bonney Lake house fire Firefighters work the scene of a house fire in Bonney Lake, Wash., on Thursday, August 4, 2016. 2016-08-05 04:16 2KB www.thenewstribune.com 38 Protesters Interrupt And Silence Hillary In Las Vegas The talents of the Secret Service were on full display Thursday at Hillary Clinton's campaign rally in Las Vegas when animal rights protestors interuped her speech. [feature] When the first Sec 2016-08-05 04:19 1KB dailycaller.com 39 Broccoli Industry Doesn't Exist, Costs Taxpayers $5 Million Researchers at Cornell University are getting more than $5 million in taxpayer-funded federal grants to create a market for broccoli grown on the East Coast. A new grant from the U. S. Department of 2016-08-05 04:19 4KB dailycaller.com 40 China Says America in 'Decline' China said today that the real reason for America flexing its muscles in Korea is growing fear of an impending decline. America’s willingness to push forward on the “controversial deployment” 2016-08-05 04:19 4KB dailycaller.com 41 Director Of 'Snowden' Has A PSA About Using Your Phones The director of "Snowden" has a public service announcement about using your phones -- and it's not a pretty picture. The P. S. A. titled "Turn off your phones," accompanies the upcoming movie based 2016-08-05 04:18 1KB dailycaller.com 42 Pence Clarifiies McCain Stance 'To restore our country at home and abroad, we need new leadership' 2016-08-05 04:18 2KB dailycaller.com 43 Arianny Celeste Instagram Bikini Picture UFC star personality Arianny Celeste hit her fans with a bikini picture Thursday afternoon. The brunette bombshell dropped the bikini picture with the caption, "Playtime in #mexico #summer #tbt #pi 2016-08-05 04:18 1KB dailycaller.com 44 Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced To 7 Years For 'Subversion’ Zhou Shifeng, the latest human rights lawyer to be tried by the No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, was sentenced to 7 years in prison for subversion today. This is the third trial this week in wh 2016-08-05 04:18 4KB dailycaller.com 45 George Zimmerman Punched Yet Again George Zimmerman was punched in the face over the weekend by a man who took offense at his apparent "bragging" over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman fatally shot Martin in a March 2016-08-05 04:18 2KB dailycaller.com 46 New Hampshire's Ayotte Drops Ten Points In New Poll Republicans in New Hampshire are trailing behind Democrats up and down the ticket, according to a Thursday poll published by local radio station WBUR. Sen. Kelly Ayotte experienced a 10-point drop 2016-08-05 04:18 2KB dailycaller.com 47 Black And Latino Pastors Form Coalition To Stop DeBlasio New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has seen better days. A group of influential black and Latino pastors organized by the campaign manager for former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Brad Tusk, announced 2016-08-05 04:18 1KB dailycaller.com 48 Where Are Michael Jackson's Kids Now? Paris, Prince And Blanket Michael Jackson died seven years ago from acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication while at his Los Angeles home. When he died, he left behind his three children -- Prince, Paris and Blank 2016-08-05 04:18 1KB dailycaller.com 49 Obama: Trump Has To Get Security Briefings [VIDEO] During his Thursday press conference, President Barack Obama stated that he is not worried about Donald Trump receiving classified security briefings. "As far as Mr. Trump is concerned, we are goi 2016-08-05 04:18 1KB dailycaller.com 50 Obama Admin Reopens Research On Human-Animal Hybrids The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is preparing to end a year- old ban on publicly-funded scientific research into human-animal hybrids, paving the way for scientists to create new, fascinating, a 2016-08-05 04:18 2KB dailycaller.com 51 Arrested ISIS Sympathizer Claims Fellow Militants In Mexico Erick Jamal Hendricks of Charlotte, N. C., was arrested Thursday in Ohio for providing material support to ISIS. A Department of Justice press release stated that Hendricks tried to recruit and tra 2016-08-05 04:18 2KB dailycaller.com 52 Trump Is Trailing In Colorado The prospect of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump winning critical battleground states like Colorado is growing more difficult, according to a number of political experts. The candidate curren 2016-08-05 04:18 2KB dailycaller.com 53 'Confidence Game' Author Maria Konnikova: Trump Is A Con Artist A few months ago, New York Times bestselling author of "The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It... Every Time”, Maria Konnikova, appeared on "Real Time With Bill Maher. " An expert in study of con ar 2016-08-05 04:18 5KB dailycaller.com 54 Wasserman Schultz To Debate Primary Challenger Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz must now fight for her congressional seat after being forced out of her DNC post in the wake of the e-mail hack scandal. Aft 2016-08-05 04:18 2KB dailycaller.com 55 DOJ Had 'Powerful Case' To Charge IRS Targeters Recently released FBI interviews show the Department of Justice's failure to prosecute the Tea Party-targeting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials was "patently ridiculous," Rep. Jim Jordan sai 2016-08-05 04:18 5KB dailycaller.com

56 S Korea military gives K-pop band anti- smoking mission Girl group Lovelyz are tasked with encouraging South Korean soldiers to quit smoking. 2016-08-05 04:14 1KB www.bbc.co.uk 57 How affordable is rent in your area? People spend more than a third of their disposable income on rent across large parts of England, a BBC investigation finds. 2016-08-05 04:19 6KB www.bbc.co.uk 58 Foster carers 'poached with golden hellos' Local authority foster carers are being recruited by private agencies with cash incentives, councils say. 2016-08-05 04:19 5KB www.bbc.co.uk 59 Meet the “World’s Biggest Asshole” in this organ donation PSA Nonprofit Donate Life has launched an edgy campaign that it hopes will catch the attention of young people and make them realize that if the world’s biggest asshole can donate his organs, then anyone can. 2016-08-05 05:04 2KB www.thedrum.com 60 Random acts of music: Why politics and music rarely connect? In Tena Clark’s pointed opinion, there has never been a good combination of political campaign-meets-music theme. Even when Bill Clinton used Fleetwood Mac’s infectious “Don’t Stop” during his winning campaign, Clark called it “the best of the worst.” 2016-08-05 05:04 8KB www.thedrum.com 61 ‘Strive for excellence over perfection’: Exceptional Women Out West podcast featuring Ginny Golden, group creative director, AKQA Portland Sometimes, those blazing trails don’t necessarily seek the spotlight. The quest and passion of doing good work and the right things comes first. Ginny Golden, group creative director at AKQA in Portland, is in the midst of an undoubtedly stellar career — with scads of... 2016-08-05 05:04 2KB www.thedrum.com 62 DC Thomson on why the time’s right to open its inventory directly to agencies and advertisers DC Thomson is the latest publisher to offer automated guaranteed inventory to agencies and advertisers, a move it claims takes it closer to a “utopia” of quality and quantity as opposed to relying on high volume, low yield ad inventory. 2016-08-05 05:03 3KB www.thedrum.com 63 Zika vaccines show early promise Three different ways of designing a vaccine have been shown to be completely protective against the Zika virus. 2016-08-05 04:19 2KB www.bbc.co.uk 64 What will be the legacy of the Olympic Games in Rio? Rio has invested heavily in transport, tourism and sports venues ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games, but many problems were not addressed, says the BBC's South America Business correspondent Daniel Gallas. 2016-08-05 04:19 7KB www.bbc.co.uk 65 WBTV First Alert Weather forecast for 08.04.16 WBTV meteorologist Lyndsay Tapases with The Charlotte Observer weather forecast for Aug. 4, 2016. 2016-08-04 16:17 1KB www.charlotteobserver.com 66 The young entrepreneurs trying to help South Africa's townships A look at the young entrepreneurs trying to boost the economy and employment in South Africa's townships. 2016-08-05 04:19 6KB www.bbc.co.uk 67 Rocks tell story of China's great flood Geologists have found evidence for an ancient megaflood which they say could be the mythical flood at the dawn of the first Chinese dynasty. 2016-08-05 04:19 6KB www.bbc.co.uk 68 Badgers may not spread TB to cattle through direct contact New research suggests that badgers do not transmit TB to cattle by direct contact. 2016-08-05 04:19 4KB www.bbc.co.uk 69 Brexit hit recruitment in July a new survey shows A survey suggests the sharpest contraction in the number of people securing a permanent job since May 2009. 2016-08-05 04:19 2KB www.bbc.co.uk

70 Renault-Nissan 'reasonably optimistic' over Brexit The chief executive of Renault-Nissan tells the BBC he is "reasonably optimistic" over Brexit but says car prices will rise in the UK. 2016-08-05 04:19 2KB www.bbc.co.uk 71 Obama Offers Rules for Republicans Having declared Donald Trump to be “unfit to serve as president,” President Obama urged Republican leaders to disavow the GOP nominee Tuesday. “The... 2016-08-05 04:18 3KB spectator.org 72 Judo champ throws Kosovo hopes into Rio Olympics mix A judo champion symbolises Kosovo's hopes as it competes in the Olympics for the first time, Guy Delauney reports. 2016-08-05 04:19 6KB www.bbc.co.uk 73 Hillary Clinton Goes Full Freud: We’ll Tax The Middle Class! To a cheering crowd, Hillary Clinton announced that she’s all for taxing the Middle Class: Now, her gaffe was certainly not intentional... 2016-08-05 04:18 1KB spectator.org 74 Miami tourist destination now a Zika hotspot Residents and visitors of Miami's Wynwood neighbourhood react to an "unprecedented" travel alert. 2016-08-05 04:14 3KB www.bbc.co.uk 75 Rock Hill homeless shelter inspired by teen holds open house, fundraiser Emily's House, a shelter for homeless families and children, will hold an open house and fundraiser Saturday. The shelter's namesake, Rock Hill's Emily Elkins, a 16-year-old cancer victim who died in March of 2015, donated money and resources to... 2016-08-05 04:15 3KB www.heraldonline.com 76 Navigating the current hurdles of voice search There was a time, not long ago, when asking your Xbox to order a pizza seemed like an impossible dream. But the future, as they say, is now. 2016-08-05 04:50 6KB www.thedrum.com 77 DWI Task Force leads to arrests KMorgan 1358 posts 2016-08-05 04:17 1KB www.thetribunepapers.com

78 IOC clears 271 Russian athletes for Rio Games — RT Sport The IOC has announced that 271 Russian athletes will participate at the Rio Games following a final review by a three-member executive board. The head of Russia’s Olympic Committee previously told reporters that the “majority” of Russian teams would participate in full. 2016-08-05 04:17 1KB www.rt.com 79 2011 riots: How one night changed my life In 2011, thousands of people rioted in English cities. Here is the story of two people deeply affected by what went on. 2016-08-05 04:19 12KB www.bbc.co.uk 80 Mile marker signs on Catawba River thanks to Rock Hill Eagle Scout Rock Hill Eagle Scout Harris Vaughan came up with an idea to install mile markers on the Catawba River for boaters. With the help of York County Emergency Management, six miles of markers have been installed from the Lake Wylie dam to Landsford Canal State Park. 2016-08-05 04:15 3KB www.heraldonline.com 81 Three bears invade packed Lake Tahoe beach during California drought (VIDEO) — RT Viral Sunbathers have been urged to watch out for bears visiting California beaches and waterside locations more frequently this summer, after a mother and her two cubs were spotted cooling off at Lake Tahoe. 2016-08-05 04:17 1KB www.rt.com 82 The Chennai woman who runs a Hindu crematorium The BBC's Geeta Pandey meets Praveena Soloman who is challenging tradition and also winning hearts in her role at a Hindu crematorium. 2016-08-05 04:14 6KB www.bbc.co.uk 83 The Cote d'Azur on the edge after attacks How recent attacks in France have changed the mood around the popular beach resorts. 2016-08-05 04:14 8KB www.bbc.co.uk 84 The giant benches that make adults feel like children A former BMW design chief quit his job and moved to an Italian village, where his focus shifted from cars to benches... giant benches, where adults can sit and enjoy the view with dangling legs. 2016-08-05 04:14 5KB www.bbc.co.uk 85 Argentine rights group head Hebe de Bonafini faces arrest An Argentine judge orders the arrest of the head of the rights group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, after she fails to appear in court to give evidence. 2016-08-05 04:14 1KB www.bbc.co.uk 86 Peru president works out with cabinet in public Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and most of his cabinet surprise bystanders by beginning their first weekly meeting with an exercise session in public. 2016-08-05 04:14 1KB www.bbc.co.uk 87 Will Nigeria's divided Boko Haram be more or less dangerous? Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram now has two rival leaders - Nigeria analyst Andrew Walker looks at whether the split will make it more or less dangerous. 2016-08-05 04:14 5KB www.bbc.co.uk 88 The museum in India that shrinks you The BBC's Geeta Pandey visits India's first Click Art Museum in the southern city of Chennai which has been drawing in massive crowds since its opening in April. 2016-08-05 04:14 4KB www.bbc.co.uk 89 Woman talks about her brother and the sentencing of the man who killed him in hammer attack Lisa Wells talks about her brother, 51-year-old James "Jimmy" Payne. Payne was fatally beaten with a hammer by 45-year-old Richard Blair, who was sentenced Thursday to more than 41 years in prison. 2016-08-05 04:16 2KB www.thenewstribune.com 90 Singer Anitta 'anxious' ahead of Rio opening ceremony Babita Sharma met Brazilian singer Anitta ahead of her performance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony. 2016-08-05 03:50 605Bytes www.bbc.co.uk 91 Fears in US that money to fight Zika 'rapidly running out' US President Barack Obama on Thursday called on Congress to approve additional funding to combat the spread of the Zika virus in the United States... 2016-08-05 03:35 2KB www.jpost.com 92 Soccer: Beitar, Mac TA await playoff draw following easy progress Before Maccabi and Beitar discover who they will face in the playoffs, Hapoel Beersheba will find out the identity of its rival in the Champions League playoffs. 2016-08-05 03:29 3KB www.jpost.com 93 'I was the campus anti-Semite,' says reformed Muslim Zionist The lifework of a former jihadist is to “get the truth out” about Israel and help others do so too. 2016-08-05 03:18 5KB www.jpost.com 94 Knesset approves amendment to Public Broadcasting Law New public broadcaster to start operations in 2017. 2016-08-05 03:03 3KB www.jpost.com 95 Big Lebowski actor David Huddleston dies aged 85 David Huddleston, the character actor best known for his role in The Big Lebowski, has died. He was 85. 2016-08-05 02:41 1KB www.independent.ie 96 Barkat denounces National Authority for move out of capital “The Jerusalem Municipality calls on the national government to adhere to the decision that stipulates that all government units must be headquartered exclusively in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel 2016-08-05 02:39 5KB www.jpost.com 97 GOP turns on Trump over ‘divisive’ tactics Donald Trump has insisted there is "great unity in my campaign" - although there are several indications that the Republican Party is turning against its nominee. 2016-08-05 02:30 5KB www.independent.ie 98 Court rules out change to birth register for intersex plaintiff A person with a genetic abnormality who identifies as neither woman nor man can't be entered in Germany's birth register under an alternative label such as "inter" or "di 2016-08-05 02:30 1KB www.independent.ie 99 Sex addiction to blame for my marriage woes - Ozzy Osbourne Ozzy Osbourne has revealed he is undergoing "intense therapy" for a "sex addiction" that nearly resulted in the disintegration of his marriage to Sharon Osbourne. 2016-08-05 02:30 2KB www.independent.ie

100 French in fresh bid to extradite Bailey over the murder of Sophie The French authorities are set to make a fresh bid to extradite British journalist Ian Bailey for questioning over the killing of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. 2016-08-05 02:30 3KB www.independent.ie Articles

Total 100 articles, created at 2016-08-05 06:01

1 Obama: Islamic State likely to continue to threaten US (1.02/2) WASHINGTON — The Islamic State group will probably continue to be a threat to the US even after it is ousted from key strongholds in Iraq and Syria, President Barack Obama said Thursday, warning that lone-wolf believers will still be inspired to launch attacks that are harder to detect and prevent. Speaking to reporters after meeting with his top national security advisers in the Pentagon, Obama said the US has to do a better job disrupting terror networks and intercepting the internet messages that can get to troubled individuals and inspire them to act. “What ISIL has figured out is that if they can convince a handful of people or even one person to carry out an attack on a subway, or at a parade or some other public venue, and kill scores of people as opposed to thousands of people, it still creates the kinds of fear and concern that elevates their profile,” Obama said. He said terrorism likely won’t be eliminated by his administration or his successors, and he’s always pushing his team to seek out new ideas to battle the problem. “I haven’t gotten numb to it. It bugs me whenever it happens,” he said. But, he added, “I do think that because of our extraordinary efforts the homeland is significantly safer than it otherwise would be.” The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a number of recent mass killings, including the Bastille Day attack in Nice, France, last month that left more than 80 dead, and the Orlando nightclub shootings that killed 49. While they may not have been directed by the group, the attackers were reportedly inspired by IS. Obama has beefed up the US military fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, recently authorizing more troops to help Iraqi forces prepare to take back the northern city of Mosul, which has been under IS control since 2014. And this week the US expanded its campaign against the group with a new front of airstrikes in Libya, to help the fledgling government there take back the city of Sirte. The group, however, still maintains strongholds in the region, and the fight in Syria has bogged down. On Thursday, however, Obama said the anti-IS campaign is making progress in Iraq and Syria, because the group has not regained the territory it’s lost in recent months. But he noted that ousting the terror group from Mosul, and from its headquarters in Raqqa, Syria, won’t eliminate its networks or its ability to encourage the smaller, more individual attacks. So, he said, “it is so important for us to keep our eye on the ball and not panic, not succumb to fear, because ISIL can’t defeat the United States of America or our NATO partners.” The US and its allies, said Obama, must “keep on grinding away” against the group, and take key operatives off the battlefield, and “eventually we will win.” RELATED STORIES US now hitting Islamic State targets from Mediterranean Sea Obama claims progress on Islamic State amid worrying signs

Islamic State: Obama says group is weakening but still a threat bbc.co.uk 2016-08-05 06:00 Associated Press newsinfo.inquirer.net

2 2 Iran Claimed Months Ago US Paid A Ransom, Nobody Listened (0.01/2) The Obama administration has spent the last several days claiming that a $400 million cash payment to the Islamic Republic of Iran had nothing to do with the coinciding release of four American hostages, but Iranian officials stated quite the opposite seven months ago. “This money was returned for the freedom of the U. S. spy [Jason Rezaian] and it was not related to the [nuclear] negotiations,” said Iranian Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the head of Iran’s paramilitary Basij force, in January. Jason Rezaian, a reporter for the Washington Post, was one of the four American hostages released by the Islamic Republic. The Daily Caller News Foundation had previously reported on the alleged ransom in January. At the time, the event was considered a prisoner swap, as the U. S. had agreed to release seven Iranian nationals in custody for violating U. S. sanctions. President Barack Obama described the swap as a “good day” and the result of “strong American diplomacy.” Iran has taken two U. S. citizens captive since the January prisoner release and subsequent payment. The substantial sum was sent to Iran in the form of pallets of euros and Swiss francs in an unmarked cargo plane at almost the exact same time as the prisoners were released in January, according to a Wall Street Journal report. U. S. officials have not stated when the money arrived in the Iranian capital of Tehran, but Iran’s government-run Tasnim news agency has reported that the prisoners were released the same day. Administration officials have reacted indignantly to the claim that the payment was a ransom. President Obama reiterated that the U. S. does not pay ransom for hostages in a Pentagon briefing Thursday afternoon. “The timing of this, despite administration protests to the contrary, suggests that this was a ransom payment,” Jonathan Schanzer, an expert on terrorism finance and the vice president of research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told The Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday. “And even if this was not what the administration intended, it certainly looks that way to the Iranians.” Obama maintained the claim that the $400 million was sent to Iran as part of a completely separate deal regarding the settlement of an Iranian deposit into a Pentagon trust fund before the Islamic Revolution. The U. S. had previously agreed to pay the Islamic $1.7 billion to settle the issue. Administration officials have not said how the remaining $1.4 billion balance will be repaid. Follow Russ Read on Twitter Send tips to [email protected] . Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

Iran Claims US Paid Ransom For Hostages dailycaller.com 2016-08-05 05:23 National Security dailycaller.com

3 Harvard Republicans Trash Trump (0.01/2) Republicans at Harvard University are rejecting Donald Trump’s candidacy and will not support him for president. It’s the first time in 128 years that the Harvard Republican Club, the country’s oldest College Republicans chapter, has disowned its own party’s nominee. “Donald Trump holds views that are antithetical to our values not only as Republicans, but as Americans,” the group says in a statement posted to Medium. “The rhetoric he espouses –from racist slander to misogynistic taunts– is not consistent with our conservative principles, and his repeated mocking of the disabled and belittling of the sacrifices made by prisoners of war, Gold Star families, and Purple Heart recipients is not only bad politics, but absurdly cruel.” Besides bashing Trump’s rhetoric, the statement also bashes Trump for his “isolationist” foreign policy, and declares him an outright threat to the future of American democracy. “His authoritarian tendencies and flirtations with fascism are unparalleled in the history of our democracy,” it says. “[Ronald Reagan] would be ashamed of Donald Trump. We are too.” The statement says that instead of campaigning for Trump, the group will focus on supporting the party’s House and Senate candidates, with the aim of preserving a Republican Congress to “protect against executive overreach regardless of who wins the election.” The message concludes with a flourish, misquoting 19th century French writer Alexis de Tocqueville. “Tocqueville once said, ‘America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great,'” it says. “Donald Trump may not believe in that America, but we do. And that America will never cease to be great.” Notably, that is actually a fake Tocqueville quote, a fact seized upon by Kirk Jing, president of Harvard Law School’s Republican group. Jing released a statement of his own ridiculing the Republican Club for jumping ship. “The Harvard Republican Club speaks for itself, as does their statement,” said president Kirk Jing. “It fittingly concludes with a fake quote from Tocqueville, misrepresenting both him and Trump to contort reality into fitting ideological clichés. Fortunately, actual Republican voters concluded that elites do not have a right to rule simply because they can recite tired political clichés in lieu of everyday reality.” According to The Harvard Crimson, the Republican Club polled its own members and found only 10 percent of them were willing to vote for Trump while 80 percent were opposed, which prompted the decision to officially stand against him. They’ll be in plentiful company; a recent non-scientific poll of Harvard students suggested just four percent were willing to vote for Trump while 87 percent planned to vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Send tips to [email protected] . Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

Republicans Make Stand Against Trump dailycaller.com 2016-08-05 05:23 dailycaller.com

4 What is accelerationism? Owen Smith vs Jeremy Corbyn: play along with Labour leadership debate bingo (0.01/2) Accelerationism (n) Accelerationism is the idea that capitalism, or various processes attached to it, should be deepened or “accelerated” in order to prompt radical change. As Steven Shaviro sums it up, “’accelerationism’ is the idea that the only way out is through”. Origin The concept of accelerationism has been traced back to Karl Marx, but the word was first used prominently by Benjamin Noys in 2010, in his book Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism . Usage Some understand “accelerationism” as being the process by which capitalism is pushed to its worst excesses as soon as possible in order to provoke an anti-capitalist response. In this basic model, exposing the true evils of late capitalism will lead inevitably to revolt. You might, for instance, theorize that it’s better to vote for Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton, as the latter will maintain the status quo, while the former’s negative disruptive influence might instigate a true socialist backlash. (Historically, this does not go well). Yet few philosophers preach anything so simple (or so passive). Of course, there are different varieties of accelerationism. Some philosophers, for instance, focus on repurposing the tools of capitalism, outlining a model for political change opposed to the work of thosw Marxists who seek to entirely reject the suspect tools of, to give one example, knowledge of late capitalist economics. In this version of accelerationism, the aspects of capitalism which may instigate its own downfall are seized and refashioned to speed up the process of its undoing. As #Accelerate: The Accelerationist Reader puts it: Accelerationism is a political heresy: the insistence that the only radical political response to capitalism is not to protest, disrupt, or critique, nor to await its demise at the hands of its own contradictions, but to accelerate its uprooting, alienating, decoding, abstractive tendancies. If you really want to get into it, it’s possible to see accelerationism as one of two possible models for radical Left-wing action: one rooted in the local (and some would stay nostalgic), and the other in the global, technological and abstract (and some would say alienating). As Alex Williams and Nick Srnicek put it: The most important division in today’s Left is between those that hold to a folk politics of localism, direct action, and relentless horizontalism, and those that outline what must become called an accelerationist politics at ease with a modernity of abstraction, complexity, globality, and technology. Getting lost? That’s fine. The important thing to know is that plenty of people are going to use “accelerationist” to mean “making things so bad people rebel”. You’ll see people shout them down for this usage – but at least you’ll recognise it. On the other hand: want to know more? Try this manifesto of accelerationism , and McKenzie Wark’s critique of it here . Is everyone looking forward to watching Owen Smith and Jeremy Corbyn go at it in the Labour leadership hustings? Make it even better with our Labour Leadership Bingo cards. The Rules 1. Squares can be checked off when mentioned by just the candidates (hard mode) or candidates and the audience (easy mode). 2. In accordance with the kinder, gentler politics all ambiguities must be handled without descending to personal abuse. 3. If in doubt, ruling goes to a vote. Why not print them out and play along with friends or family? Just right click to save each card as an image to your own computer. We've even included a blank card for your own suggestions.

Calling Jeremy Corbyn's supporters a cult? You might as well call us stupid Owen Smith vs Jeremy Corbyn: play along with Labour leadership debate bingo newstatesman.com 2016-08-05 04:16 Xan Rice www.newstatesman.com

5 How the interest rate cut affects you (0.01/2) After almost endless speculation, the Bank of England has announced a cut in interest rates to 0.25%. So, how will the move affect you? Generally, a Bank rate cut is regarded as good for borrowers - particularly those with a mortgage - and bad for savers. Millions of people in the UK fall into both categories, so what aspects of the family budget do they need to review? A mortgage is by far the biggest debt taken on by the majority of households in the UK. An estimated 11.1 million households have one. The typical amount still left to pay on each home loan in the UK is £116,000, according to the Council for Mortgage Lenders. Using Office for National Statistics (ONS) house price data, a cut to 0.25% means a £22 monthly reduction in the bill for a variable 25-year repayment mortgage on a typically priced home of £211,000 having taken a 20% deposit into account. So that is a £22 cut on a monthly mortgage bill of about £779. Key to when this saving is made - if at all - depends on the kind of mortgage that people have. Those who will see an immediate benefit are those on Bank rate tracker mortgages - in other words, home loans with an interest rate that goes up or down in direct relation to the Bank of England's decision. One in five mortgage holders have this type of loan. Approaching a third of mortgage holders (29%) have home loans that are on the standard variable rate - the default option after a fixed term has run its course. They will be in the hands of the lender. Some mortgage providers may pass on the cut in full, some may decide on a partial cut, others may make no change at all given the historical low levels on interest rates. A handful of banks quickly announced that they would pass the cut on in full from September, with others expected to follow suit. A separate scheme announced by the Bank - called the Term Funding Scheme - is designed to ensure that banks pass on the rate cut. In fact, Bank governor Mark Carney said banks had "no excuse" not to pass on the cut to households. Finally, there are those on fixed rate mortgages - equating to nearly half (46%) of all mortgage holders. They will see no change. However, if their mortgage term is up soon, they may find they pay less if and when they sign up to a new one. Fixed mortgage rates on new deals have been falling - even when there was no change to the Bank rate. An increasing number of people have signed up to longer term fixed rate deals - locking them in for up to 10 years. For them, this change is fairly irrelevant. The theory of a Bank rate cut is that consumers see a cut in their mortgage bill, and a worsening return on their savings, so they go out and spend. Hence, there is a boost to the economy. The same is basically true for businesses who will be more minded to invest. That is the relatively simplistic explanation but it does make it clear that a Bank rate cut is bad for savers. At the moment, the average interest rate on an easy access savings account is 0.65%. If that average mirrors a change in the Bank rate, this will drop to 0.4%. So, for anyone with £10,000 saved in such an account, they will receive £40 a year in gross interest, which is £25 less than before the cut. Rates have been fairly pitiful for years, and even those locking in their savings for five years are only getting an average of 1.97% in interest. One thing to consider is that a cut is not automatic. In fact, providers have not waited for a Bank rate change to cut the returns they offer. "It look like rates have taken a hammering in the last week, and the base rate had not even changed," said Susan Hannums, of SavingsChampion.co.uk. "Many savings accounts could not even suffer a quarter point cut. With almost a third of easy access accounts currently paying 0.25% or less, savers need to act now to better their returns. " For every savings rate that has been increased in 2016, around nine have been cut, according to data from financial information service Moneyfacts. About three-quarters of bank current accounts do not pay interest at all. The Bank of England also added further stimulus measures to the rate cut - namely, the purchase of government and corporate bonds. This will have no effect on the state pension. It will, however, add extra pressure on the deficits facing defined benefit pension schemes, such as final-salary pensions, putting increased pressure on businesses to plug that gap or reduce the availability of such pensions. Those who are buying an annuity, a retirement income for life, from their defined contribution pension pot may also now get a worse deal. "The decision to reduce interest rates could add insult to injury for pension savers already reeling from the Brexit vote," said AJ Bell senior analyst Tom Selby. "Insurers use government gilt yields to price annuities, so a cut in the base rate puts further downward pressure on UK gilt yields and, in turn, annuity prices. " The flipside is that share prices have been driven up by the Bank's decision. That means those still paying into a private pension - and, indeed, investors in general - will see a boost in the value of these investments. Pensions and other investments are, of course, a long-term project so the long-term health of the economy is arguably the most important element to consider. The decision by the Bank of England has led to an immediate fall in the value of the pound. Although this remains higher than its lowest point of recent weeks, it may mean UK holidaymakers get a bit less for their money when buying foreign currency than they did earlier this week.

Newspaper headlines: Inquiry judge quits and interest rate cut bbc.co.uk 2016-08-05 04:19 By Kevin www.bbc.co.uk

6 ISIS using Telegram app to plot attacks on US bases in Middle East – Israeli hackers — RT News According to Intsights, an Israeli intelligence startup based in Herzliya city, IS has listed “extremely specific targets” in the Telegram system, “with a call to attack them,” Channel 10 reported. While a number of airfields used by the US Air Force were listed, “priority targets” singled out bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, according to Intsights’ co- founder and vice-president of intelligence, Alon Arvatz. “The long list includes exact coordinates for each and every target, all of which are airports and airbases that are used or could be used by the United States Air Force all over the world,” Arvatz told Tazpit Press Service (TPS) in an interview. The complete list also reportedly included targets in Latin America, Europe, and Israel. The information was gathered after analysts from Intsights infiltrated a chat allegedly used by IS to communicate internationally. Founded by three Israeli veterans of top Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intelligence and cyber- warfare units, Intsights describes itself as a “small company which provides intelligence and incident mitigation in real time by gathering and analyzing data from the darknet, an encrypted and secretive section of the Internet often used by criminal elements.” The intel group says that the Telegram application has been used by the top 500 IS operatives to share plans and locations for potential terror attacks. “The Telegram app is completely encrypted, which means no fear of someone monitoring your correspondence and understanding what it means,” Arvatz said. “That’s why IS moved from traditional social media to Telegram over the last year.” Although the Insights team did not reveal how it managed to hack into the chat group, Arvatz did say that it is accessed by IS members who then introduce other members. “I need to know someone who can vouch for me that I'm cleared for the group, and only then can I join,” he said. Arvatz went on to state that the Normandy church where a priest was killed by IS “soldiers” last week was also “on a target list published several months ago, and someone recently decided to answer the call and attacked that very church.” “This proves beyond doubt that there is a direct link between cyber activity and actual terror[ist] attacks,” Arvatz said. 2016-08-05 06:00 www.rt.com

7 Kouga’s new mayor vows to ‘clean up’ problems the 'ANC never took care of’ “We have got to clean up Kouga and start delivering immediately the better services that we have promised the electorate‚" she told TMG Digital shortly after provisional poll results showed a win by the DA in the local government elections on Thursday. The municipality – which includes Jeffreys Bay‚ Humansdorp‚ Oyster Bay and Cape St Francis - borders Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth). The DA won with more than 57% of the vote to the African National Congress 40-odd percent‚ marking a significant shift in power in what has traditionally been an ANC stronghold province. Van Lingen said that it “was clear” that the feeling to “vote for change” had been very strong on the ground‚ even in impoverished parts of the municipality. “We have attained six of our wards‚ the previous six that we had and a seventh ward in Humansdorp and a few others‚" said Van Lingen. “The surprise‚ though‚ was Ward 14‚ the area of Ocean View that we won. Ocean view‚ you must understand‚ there are so many squatter homes. It is so poorly serviced by the municipality that you can’t believe it. So we have got to pick up all those things and get the house in order. But‚ it is just so exciting‚" she said. “We went in with a DA manifesto‚ now we have got the voters' mandate and now we have to implement it‚" she said. Click here to explore the results election results for all municipalities: http://elections.timeslive.co.za/#/results?year=2016 Van Lingen became a councillor in the then Cacadu District Municipality in 2006‚ and in 2009 she became a member of Parliament. In 2011‚ she was elected as the leader for the DA in the National Council of Provinces (NCoP). However‚ as of today‚ Van Lingen said‚ she will have to resign from her position at the NCoP as she takes on her new role as mayor of the Kouga Municipality. “We never know what we are going to get once we take over; it is always sort of a rude surprise‚ but we are absolutely prepared to take on all the challenges thrown our way. That is what we have been fighting for. “The people have suffered for such a long time‚ but it’s now time that we make the change‚” she said. Van Lingen added that some of the changes‚ both internally and externally after the DA’s win‚ will be implemented as soon as possible. Speaking about the internal changes to be implemented‚ she said: “Internally‚ we have got to start with the auditor-general and his report‚ and what has been done today. To rectify or to improve further matters that he raised as concerns. “There are a large number of broken vehicles and machinery that the ANC never took care of‚ so we have got to look at that and our assets and where we are going with it. “It is now the second month in the new financial year‚ so we will hardly be able to use funds when needed because we must first do the adjustment budget and that comes in the middle of the municipal year‚ around January/February‚” she said. On the external changes‚ she said: "We have got to clean up Kouga and start delivering immediately the better services that we have promised the electorate.” Kouga Municipality's outgoing mayor‚ councillor Daphne Kettledas‚ said that the ANC remained positive despite the loss. “We still feel positive‚ as I don’t think there is anything to feel negative about. We still have work to do here‚” she said. Western Cape Premier Helen Zille took to social media and to describe the win as “huge” earlier on Thursday.

2016-08-05 06:00 Deneesha Pillay www.timeslive.co.za

8 8 Austria & Turkey in EU membership spat — RT News "It's disturbing that [Kern’s] statements [on ending EU membership talks] are similar to those of the far right,” Turkish politician Omer Celik said, as quoted by Reuters. He added, however, that the EU's founding values remain a reference point for Turkey: “Criticism is surely a democratic right, but there has to be a difference between criticizing Turkey and being against Turkey. " It comes shortly after Austria’s chancellor slammed Turkey for the crackdown launched following the failed anti-government coup in mid-July, saying the response shows Turkey can’t now be part of the EU. "We have to face reality: the membership negotiations are currently no more than fiction," Kern told Austrian broadcaster ORF on Wednesday. "We know that Turkey's democratic standards are far from sufficient to justify its accession," he added. Kern also directed his criticism towards the Turkish economy, saying it is still far below the EU average and can’t satisfy the bloc’s essential requirements. Turkish membership would therefore cause "massive economic upheaval," the Austrian chancellor warned, adding that the EU should look for “new alternatives” to help Turkey’s economy improve. Kern did, however, say that "[Turkey] remains an important partner in security and integration matters. " His comments look like the possible preamble to a debate about the Turkish membership issue at the upcoming European Council summit on September 16. Meanwhile, EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has taken the opposite position, stating that closing the EU's door to Turkey would be a "serious foreign policy mistake," Reuters reported. Speaking to German broadcaster ARD, Juncker stressed that he does not believe it would be a good idea for Brussels to end negotiations with Ankara. In March, Turkey and the EU signed an agreement in which Ankara said it would take back Syrian migrants landing on Greek islands, in exchange for visa-free travel, billions of euros in aid, and speeded-up EU membership talks. Two days ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara “will no longer respect” the March migrant deal unless the visa-free regime is approved. On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara would halt the migrant deal with the EU if Brussels stops efforts to provide a visa- free travel regime for Turks by October. EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger last month ruled out the visa-free travel point due to the July 15 coup attempt and subsequent crackdown. Purges have been launched that have seen 13,000 people, mainly soldiers, being detained, and some 65,000 public servants and teachers being suspended. The Turkish government has also hinted at the re-introduction of the death penalty. The government has claimed that all those detained are linked with the alleged coup mastermind, cleric Fethullah Gülen, who has been in exile in the US for the past 15 years. Turkey has asked for his extradition, saying just over a week ago that ties between Ankara and Washington will suffer unless Gulen is sent back. The US has repeatedly responded that Turkey must provide clear evidence of Gulen’s link with the attempted coup before any discussions about a possible extradition.

2016-08-05 06:00 www.rt.com

9 Nelson Mandela Bay residents divided over DA gains Initial indications were that the DA was in the lead with 55.89%‚ followed by the ANC (36.7%) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (4.27%). “I am really pleased that they are leading. I can only hope that as they day goes by it will only get better‚” said Christo Leppan‚ 33‚ who was rushing to a job interview in Port Elizabthe‚ CV in hand. He had voted for the DA‚ he said. “I’m currently unemployed and I just want there to be jobs for our people. I need a job. I hope that with the vote I cast yesterday. Change is on the way. Nomaphelo Santi‚ 22‚ of Zwide was less upbeat. “I’m not so happy about the results so far. I’m ANC and my family is ANC. I just hope that as the day goes by these results are going to change‚” Santi said. “But in any case‚ I can only hope that the party that wins give us free tertiary education and jobs for graduates. That is what we need right now.” How did your ward/city vote? Click here for the #ElectionResults: http://bit.ly/2apwZKU Eric Hanana‚ 41‚ laughed when given the latest update. “These results that are out so far don’t mean much. As the day goes by things could change. The DA has won over particular areas‚ but the areas which are situated in the locations are still being counted. These areas belong to the ANC‚ Hanana said. “I voted for the ANC: People who fought for our freedom. Therefore I believe that in the end the ANC will lead what is rightfully theirs – its people. The day has only just begun‚ let us wait and see.” Nomaphelo Ncula‚ 37‚ of Kwazakhele became emotional when talking about the results. “This doesn’t make me happy at all. I voted for the ANC and I am now starting to panic because I want to be led by the ANC‚” she said. “At the moment I need a house. I am getting older and I don’t have a house. I’ve been depending on the ANC to deliver it to me‚ hence I voted for it yesterday. But we can only hope for the best‚ let the day end then we can start being emotional.”

2016-08-05 06:00 Ntombesizwe Botha www.timeslive.co.za

10 New Japanese nuclear power plant project given go ahead by local authorities — RT News The license to reclaim land for a new nuclear plant was renewed for the Chugoku Electric Power Co. by the prefectural government on Wednesday, Kyodo news agency reports . The plant once planned to be constructed in the coastal town of Kaminoseki is positioned “within the country's energy policy,” the local government said. Originally, the two-reactor Kaminoseki nuclear complex on an island in the Seto Inland Sea was granted the landfill license in October 2008. The Fukushima crisis brought the construction to a halt at an early landfill work stage, while the license expired in 2012 and was not prolonged, as the former Yamaguchi Governor Shigetaro Yamamoto said the local authorities wanted to “examine the issue appropriately,” but did not make a decision, citing “special circumstances after the nuclear accident.” Now the landfill license for Kaminoseki nuclear complex has been extended until July 6, 2019, specifically stipulating, though, that the landfill work cannot start until the company presents exact schedule of when the plant facilities are going to be built. As of now, Chugoku Electric is not ready to elaborate on exact dates when construction will begin, company Vice-President Akira Sakotani said the same day the license was extended. “We will seriously take to heart the request [by the prefectural government] and carefully consider [our response],” he said. When the construction of the Kaminoseki nuclear complex began, it was slowed down by protests of the local anti-nuclear energy activists. The activists are expected to go on with their protests now, that the license has been extended. Anti-nuclear sentiment in Japan have been strong ever since the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, but Japan’s huge nuclear energy industry has been stagnating amidst uncertainty for five years now. Official Tokyo is already pushing for restoring operations of those existing reactors that have successfully met the new post-Fukushima safety requirements. Just on Wednesday, the No. 3 reactor of Mihama plant in Fukui Prefecture, operated by Kansai Electric Power Co. successfully passed the state safety assessment, becoming yet another nuclear power unit confirmed for safe operations under new regulations.

2016-08-05 06:00 www.rt.com

11 India considering purchase of Russian transport aircraft worth $2bn — RT Business The mid-air refueling aircraft would enhance the operational capabilities of the Su-30 fighter jets specially developed for India by Russia’s Sukhoi Design Bureau. The Indian Air Force is already equipped with Russian-built IL-78 mid-air refuelers. “For the first time Russia has offered New Delhi its IL-78MD-90A, which is a modernized version of the Il-76MD-90A military transport, also known as the IL-476," the unnamed source told Izvestia. Negotiations with Russia follow India’s decision not to buy six Airbus 330 MRTT (multi-role tanker transport) due to the high cost. Airbus won the delivery tender in 2015, but last week the Indian government withdrew the tender. “The main reason for the cancellation of the tender is the very high life-cycle cost which was not calculated properly in the beginning,” the Financial Express cited the government’s letter to Airbus. The six aircraft would have added to the existing fleet of an equal number of Russian IL-78s acquired by India in the 2000s. If the Russian-Indian talks succeed, it will be the first contract to supply the Il- 78MD-90A. The new aerial refueler aircraft is a modernized version of an IL-76 transporter. It has a modified wing, new engines and control system, a higher load capacity and volume of transported fuel. READ MORE: Moscow and Delhi to invest $8 billion in 5th generation fighters The tanker aircraft can carry up to 110 tons of fuel and refuel a jet from the rear and from its wings. Three aircraft may be refueled in the air simultaneously. The modular air fuel system allows the tanker to be easily converted into a conventional transport aircraft. The new Il-78MD-90A aircraft will be tested in 2017, and only after that it could be sold to customers, said a source in the aviation industry.

2016-08-05 06:00 www.rt.com

12 ISIS wants ‘loads of attacks in England, Germany & France,’ jailed jihadist says — RT News Members of the far-reaching Islamic State’s (IS, formerly ISIS) intelligence service, called Emni in Arabic, allegedly told Sarfo they were first and foremost interested in waging terrorism across the globe. In an interview with the New York Times , Sarfo, who is currently serving a three-year term on terrorism charges at a maximum security prison near Bremen, recalled what one masked commander once told him. “He was speaking openly about the situation, saying that they have loads of people living in European countries and waiting for commands to attack the European people. And that was before the Brussels attacks, before the Paris attacks.” According to French, Belgian, German and Austrian intelligence and interrogation records cited by the Times, Emni is a fundamental part of IS, made from an “internal police force and an external operations branch.” It is led by IS spokesman and propaganda chief Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, who has a range of operatives authorized to plan attacks worldwide, including a “secret service for European affairs,” a “ secret service for Asian affairs ” and a “secret service for Arab affairs, ” the former jihadist told the Times. Although Sarfo had initially desired to fight in Syria and Iraq, when he arrived in Syria to join the extremists there, IS operatives said they had a different plan for him. “They said, ‘Would you mind to go back to Germany, because that’s what we need at the moment,’” Sarfo told the Times. “ And they always said they wanted to have something that is occurring in the same time: they want to have loads of attacks at the same time in England and Germany and France. “They [IS operatives] told me that there aren’t many people in Germany who are willing to do the job,” the newspaper quoted Sarfo as saying shortly after his arrest last year, citing the transcript of his interrogation by German detectives. “ They said they had some in the beginning. But one after another, you could say, they chickened out, because they got scared — cold feet. Same in England.” Apparently, not the same in France. “My friend asked them about France. And they started laughing,” Sarfo said, recalling a conversation that took place seven months before the coordinated killings in Paris in November last year. “They said, ‘Don’t worry about France.’ ‘Mafi mushkilah’ — in Arabic, it means ‘no problem.’” According to the accounts of the arrested operatives, Emni's members played a major role in the Paris attacks and built the suitcase bombs used in a Brussels airport and subway, the Times reported, adding that the secret group's soldiers have also been sent to Austria, Germany, Spain, Lebanon, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia. According to Sarfo, Emni has been burning the midnight oil recruiting terrorists from across the globe. The group has sent “hundreds of operatives ” back to the European Union, a senior US intelligence official and a senior US defense official told the Times on condition of anonymity. One region where the secret service appears to have not sent its trained jihadists so far is North America, Sarfo said, with intelligence documents reportedly backing his words. “For America and Canada, it’s much easier for them to get them over the social network, because they say the Americans are dumb — they have open gun policies,” Sarfo said, adding that “they know it’s hard for them to get Americans into America.” “They say we can radicalize them easily, and if they have no prior record, they can buy guns, so we don’t need to have no contact man who has to provide guns for them.” Although some details of Sarfo’s account cannot be verified, German prison officials and intelligence agents who debriefed him said they found him credible. 2016-08-05 06:00 www.rt.com

13 Raw footage shows confusion, fear inside smoke-filled Emirates plane after crash- landing (VIDEO) — RT News None of the 282 passengers nor 18 crew members flying from Thiruvananthapuram, India, were killed in the crash, however a firefighter died while battling the blaze. Thirteen people suffered minor injuries. READ MORE: Firefighter killed as Emirates jet engulfed in flames crash-lands in Dubai (PHOTOS, VIDEO) The new video shows some of the passengers unloading their luggage from the overhead bins as the crowded cabin fills with smoke - seemingly unaware of the severity of the situation. Children are crying and frightened passengers can be heard screaming as the crowd makes its way to one of the plane’s emergency exits. A sense of panic ensues once the throng reaches the exit and catches a glimpse of the Boeing 777-300’s rapidly-burning engine beneath a cracked airplane wing. Flight attendants are heard yelling at passengers to “ leave your bags behind! ” while instructing them to “ jump and slide! ” down the inflatable chute leading to the tarmac. It is not yet known exactly what caused the crash on Wednesday, but it is believed the plane may have landed on its belly after a malfunction with its landing gear. READ MORE: Emirates fatigue reports show UAE airlines pushing crews to limits (RT EXCLUSIVE)

2016-08-05 06:00 www.rt.com

14 Test for ANC as South Africans vote in local elections The ANC risks losing control of key cities including the capital Pretoria, the economic hub Johannesburg and coastal Port Elizabeth, according to some polls. Development in South Africa has been patchy since the party won the first multi-racial elections in 1994, with many black communities still struggling with poor housing, inadequate education and a lack of opportunities. With the economy stalling and unemployment hitting record levels, the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) both hope to secure major gains. Live results, cool maps, fierce battlegrounds: follow the local elections on our web app: http://bit.ly/2apwZKU Voting began at 7:00 am (0500 GMT), with queues forming in cold winter conditions outside some polling stations in central Johannesburg. "The Democratic Alliance is on the cusp of achieving something incredible and historic," Mmusi Maimane, the DA's first black leader, said on the eve of the election. "The ANC has drifted from our original democratic project. They are venal, corrupt and flashy. " President Jacob Zuma retains widespread support, especially in rural areas, and the ANC's patronage network and deep coffers could help it maintain a hold in the majority of the 278 municipalities. But Zuma has been weakened by a series of corruption scandals, court cases and dire economic data -- including an unemployment rate of 27 percent and a forecast of zero percent GDP growth this year. "The ANC has failed dismally. After 1994, it promised heaven on earth -- we are still waiting," Mlungiseleli Kwanini, 60, an unemployed casual labourer in Port Elizabeth, told AFP before the vote. "There are no jobs, there is a lot of crime and corruption, and no service delivery (of electricity and water). " Kwanini said he still hadn't decided how he would cast his ballot, but added he was reluctant to vote for the DA due to the party's reputation as the home of middle-class whites. "They can campaign saying nice things, but whites treated us badly during apartheid. " The final polls by Ipsos showed the DA ahead in Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) and in a close fight in Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg. The results, most of which are expected on Thursday, may pile pressure on Zuma to step down before his second term ends in 2019 when the national elections are due. "I am confident that we are going to do very well," Zuma said at the end of a bitter and racial-tinged campaign in which he accused DA supporters of believing that black people could not lead the country. Adding to the uncertainty is the revolutionary socialist EFF party, which has not stood in municipal elections before and has drawn large crowds to its rallies. "The ANC is an organisation in crisis," said its firebrand leader Julius Malema on Tuesday. "They have run out of ideas, we are killing them. " The ANC expelled Malema in 2012 for poor discipline. The EFF, which won six percent of the vote in the 2014 general election, advocates land redistribution without compensation and the nationalisation of mines. "If ANC lose some big metros, it will be a dire situation for President Zuma," Judith February, a researcher with the Institute of Security Studies, told AFP. "It would be hugely symbolic to lose Nelson Mandela Bay or Johannesburg - - cities of black workers. But we should never underestimate the ANC. " February said a close result could open a period of "tricky and messy" coalition building. Voters are choosing mayors and other local representatives responsible for hot-button issues including water, sanitation and power supplies. A record 26.3 million people are registered to vote, but low turnout may be a factor more than two decades after the euphoric 1994 elections that brought Nelson Mandela to power.

2016-08-05 06:00 AFP www.timeslive.co.za

15 15 Microsoft accidentally emails press coverage plans to Gizmodo Sending an email to an unintended recipient is something that anyone who’s ever worked in an office has had to go through. This time around, someone from Microsoft is probably getting an earful for sending its press-coverage plans to Gizmodo, a technology blog site. According to The Next Web, Gizmodo was surprised when it received several emails from Microsoft that contained plans for the press coverage of the new Skype chatbots. Also among the emails was a dossier on Mark Sullivan, a Fast Company reporter whom Microsoft had been hoping would interview the company’s corporate vice president. There were notes on Sullivan’s writing style as well as the frequency of his coverage of Skype. These emails were apparently accidentally sent from Waggener Edstrom, the PR firm that handles communications for Microsoft. It’s not uncommon that big companies would keep tabs on the journalists that frequently write about them and their products. In fact, it is pretty much protocol to do some background research first before doing or agreeing to an interview and also ensure the credibility of a report. Alfred Bayle

2016-08-05 06:00 technology.inquirer.net

16 Grain-sized implant could one day control prosthetic body parts While most people will cringe at the thought of implanting a piece of technology under their skin, researchers believe it’s the future. In fact, they’ve created a grain-sized sensor implant to prove their point. Engineers from the University of California Berkeley have designed a tiny sensory transplant the size of a grain of sand. When implanted, the device allows users to monitor the body’s vitals in real time. It can also be adopted to one day neurologically link individuals to their prosthetic limbs and assist users in operating them, reports Gizmodo. The sensor itself is approximately 3 millimeters long and is powered by a piezoelectric crystal. The crystal converts ultrasound vibrations into electricity, which gives the device the juice it needs. While the prototypes are coated with surgical-grade epoxy, the researchers hope that succeeding designs will be even smaller and can be made to last decades or even a lifetime inside the human body. Alfred Bayle

2016-08-05 06:00 technology.inquirer.net

17 Trump conflict overshadows attacks on Clinton foreign policy PORTLAND, Maine — Donald Trump’s warning that the November election might be rigged is “ridiculous,” President Barack Obama declared on Thursday, wading deeper into the 2016 campaign. Anxious Republicans, meanwhile, struggled to move attention from their own infighting to Democratic foe Hillary Clinton. The feud between the GOP’s presidential nominee and Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan again overshadowed Trump’s Clinton criticism, underscoring the rising concerns from party leaders over the New York billionaire’s unorthodox candidacy and its impact on the future of the party. Facing sinking poll numbers and campaign morale, Trump has questioned the integrity of the nation’s election system in recent days. “I never heard of somebody complaining about being cheated before the game is over,” Obama said during a Thursday press conference. “My suggestion would be: Go out there and try to win the election.” READ: Trump suggests general election could be ‘rigged’ Trump, meanwhile, refused for another day to endorse Ryan, his party’s top elected official. The Republican speaker has declared his support for Trump, but he said such endorsements aren’t “blank checks” and pledged to speak out against the businessman’s divisive positions if necessary. Most recently, that means Trump’s sustained criticism of an American Muslim family whose son, US Army Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq. “I don’t like doing this,” Ryan told a Wisconsin radio station. “I don’t want to do this, but I will do this because I feel I have to in order to defend Republicans, and our principles, so that people don’t make the mistake of thinking we think like that.” Campaign chairman Paul Manafort insisted Trump would work with Ryan if elected, but he conceded the endorsement question had sparked tension inside Trump’s New York campaign headquarters. The day before, vice presidential nominee Mike Pence broke with Trump and endorsed Ryan. A Pence spokesman on Thursday issued a blanket endorsement for all Republican congressional incumbents seeking re- election, even as Trump withheld endorsements for Arizona Sen. John McCain and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte as well as Ryan. Addressing Maine voters later in the day, Trump was repeatedly interrupted by protesters, including some who were ejected after waving copies of the US Constitution in the air — a reminder of Trump’s criticism of Khan’s father, who waved his own copy of the Constitution as he criticized Trump at last week’s Democratic National Convention. READ: Taboo lifted, some Republicans mull Clinton over Trump The businessman directed his own criticism at Clinton on Thursday, while briefly addressing the tension with Ryan. He said he had given Pence permission endorse the speaker the day before. “I say, ‘Mike, you like him? Yes. Go ahead and do it, 100 percent,'” Trump recalled of his conversation, interrupting his audience when they began to boo Ryan. “Paul Ryan’s a good guy, actually,” he said. As the infighting continued, Trump and his allies lashed out at the Democratic presidential nominee’s foreign policy record. Specifically, they contended that Clinton was responsible for negotiations that led to a $400 million US payment to Iran earlier in the year. Trump and some other Republicans have described the money as ransom payment for four Americans detained in Iran days before the money was delivered. “It’s so sad, so disgusting,” Trump said of the payment. At his news conference, Obama strongly rejected the idea of a ransom. “This wasn’t some nefarious deal,” he said of a payment that was part of a decades-old dispute over a failed military equipment deal. As Trump used the issue to assail Clinton, he faced new questions about his description of a video he suggested was taken by Iranian forces removing bags of money from a plane. Several senior US officials involved in the Iran negotiations said they weren’t aware of any such video. A campaign spokeswoman acknowledged that the video in question was unrelated footage Trump watched on television. Yet the Republican candidate cited it again during his Maine appearance, insisting that the Iranian government released the footage to “embarrass our country.” At the same time, Clinton criticized Trump for outsourcing at his companies the very jobs he’s promising to create back home. “Everything he’s made he’s made somewhere else,” she said as she toured a Las Vegas electric manufacturer Thursday afternoon. “I’ve met people who were destroyed by Donald Trump, so take a look at what he’s done, not what he says.” Trump’s missteps have caused widening ripples of anxiety among Republican officials with the election just three months away. Concerned congressional Republicans are asking about Trump “hourly and daily,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a leading Trump emissary on Capitol Hill.

2016-08-05 06:00 Associated Press newsinfo.inquirer.net

18 Rosalyn D'Mello: Drinking in the spirit of a new place While I sometimes envy people who do not, in any capacity, depend on an alcohol-induced inebriation, I also pity them a little. I’ve often found, as a traveller, that an appreciation of the local alcohol is the most intimate way to acquaint yourself with wherever you may be. I know many who scoff at the smell, taste, and texture of caju feni. But to me, a Bombay Goan, the heady scent that fills any room the instant a bottle is opened is the very fragrance of Goa, as if it had all been distilled somehow into that singular essence; all of it, the red, laterite-rich soil, the woody- jammy fermented perfume of overripe cashews, the way the clear liquid gushes down your throat, warming every fibre of your being. When I have myself a glass of caju feni in Goa, my body instantly recognizes that I am back home, where I belong. Australia makes excellent wine, and it’s quite cheap. Representation Pic/thinkstock When I travelled up to the Chittagong Hill Tracts, I instantly connected with the tribal landscape when I was served my first glass of dochuani, which translates to doubly distilled, the local rice wine. By day three, I could tell, just by smelling the bottle, how long its contents had been fermenting. What the Chakma King told us turned out to be absolutely true, the claim to fame of this wine was that you never suffered from a hangover. I wasn’t sure if it was because the rice afforded the liquor a mealy-ness or if it was just the air, but the high was always exhillarating, but gentle and organic. In Myanmar, the best way, I found, to slip into the lives of locals, was to imbibe the beers produced in the region, many of which far exceeded the Indian equivalents in terms of crispness of taste and texture, and the general spirit in which you consumed it. Yoma and Mandalay proved to be my favorites. Yoma, because it was infused with rice, and Mandalay, because it had a great flavour. Yangon has a beautiful public drinking culture, with beer gardens around most corners serving draught beer and an excellent array of bar snacks. Had I been a teetotaler, I know I would have missed out on a wonderful social experience. As I walked through the Duty Free at the Brisbane airport, I refrained from buying myself a bottle of bourbon or scotch, as I usually do, so I have something to serve when I have company in my hotel room. I decided to follow a friend’s advice. It’s Australia, he said, they make excellent wine, and it’s quite cheap. I remembered how fabulous it was when I was in Paris and I would simply go to the local supermarket, pay between two to five euros for an excellent red, and feel so satisfied when I’d partake of it in the company of friends. It was how I experimented with Japanese whiskeys and beers, too, when I was in Tokyo. So, this afternon, after a trip to the supermarket to buy essentials, like roast Wagyu beef and feta-stuffed olives, and ridiculously red strawberries, I stopped at a liquor store called The Cellar, to sample the fare. I brought back a Yellow Tail Chardonnay, and a Black Shiraz. The weather in Byron Bay has been anomalous. It isn’t supposed to be raining, it isn’t supposed to be this windy. But it is. Which makes it excellent wine-drinking weather. We returned, me, and my fellow writer companions, and set ourselves up at the balcony of the guest house’s kitchen, and decided to inaugurate the Chardonnay alongside the strawberries and olives. Within ten minutes, we found ourselves in the illustrious company of other writers and photographers, and I gleefully showed off the Australia edition of my book, A Handbook For My Lover, which has me on the cover, so it’s slightly embarassing. All along I tripped on the deliciousness of the grapes, the flavours of peach and melon, and the “creamy finish” that was promised to me by the label. Deliberating on the life and times of Everywoman, Rosalyn D’Mello is a reputed art critic and the author of A Handbook For My Lover. She tweets @RosaParx. Send your feedback to [email protected]

2016-08-05 06:00 By Rosalyn www.mid-day.com

19 mid-day editorial: Need a bridge of solutions, not promises The state witnessed a gruesome tragedy on the Mumbai- Goa highway on Tuesday after a British-era bridge over the river Savitri collapsed, drowning several vehicles and passengers within. Now, the post-tragedy discussion needs some careful looking into. This paper reported yesterday that authorities sat on a warning issued three years ago by the British government, which said the bridge was well past its expiration date or at the end of its life. It added that when the tragedy came up for a discussion in the legislature, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Chandrakant Patil told the assembly that the 88-year-old bridge had been audited for structural stability this May. Engineers had found it traffic-worthy and the department erected crash barriers on the bridge instead of shutting it down completely. Patil yesterday said the department would inquire whether the audit report was faulty. We hope this probe, like we see in so many tragedies and incidents, does not simply wither away into the realm of the forgotten. The common man has reason to be sceptical about such probes and explanations touted by authorities post disasters. Most times, they are short-term salve for wounds, and we never really see any end to these. In fact, at times, we see these bouncing from one committee to the other and then the quest for answers finally comes to a dead end or so much time has elapsed that when the report finally comes out, there is little to be gained at all. We need quick, result-oriented action on this one. For instance, who were these engineers who carried out the structural audit? Could we go back to the audit and see on what basis was this declared safe? Should this particular firm and if not a firm, independent auditors be asked to give records of earlier structural audits? Finally, should they be given other work and were there any caveats or conditions to that audit, which were ignored? What lessons can we take back from this tragedy? This is vital rather than the familiar bickering and political point scoring that is currently on.

2016-08-05 06:00 By MiD www.mid-day.com

20 Guess what happened next: Facebook battles ‘clickbait’ NEW YORK — Facebook is taking another stab at ridding users’ news feeds of “clickbait,” the links and headlines that ask readers to “guess what happened next” but don’t provide any useful information, tempting people to click if they want to find out anything. The world’s largest social media company last tried this in 2014, when it announced that it was improving users’ news feed to help them find what was “interesting and relevant” and weed out “spammy” stories. It looks like that didn’t work as well as it should have. Facebook Inc. said on Thursday it is now using a system that identifies phrases commonly used in “clickbait” headlines. These range from “… and his reaction was priceless!” to “… What happens next is hard to believe.” It will also consider items “clickbait” if a headline exaggerates information or is misleading. For example, Facebook notes that the headline “Apples Are Actually Bad For You?!” is misleading because apples are only bad if you eat too many of them every day. From there, Facebook built a system that determines what phrases are commonly used in clickbait headlines that are not used in other headlines. “This is similar to how many email spam filters work,” wrote Alex Peysakhovich, research scientist, and Kristin Hendrix, user experience researcher, in a blog post. Links from websites and Facebook pages that are consistently posting clickbait will appear lower in users’ news feeds, so they are less likely to be seen. If a site stops posting such headlines, though, Facebook’s software will learn this, too, and the links will appear higher up. Will this new system work? It’s possible, though just as some spammers continue to evade spam filters, some clickbait factories are likely to continue getting around Facebook’s anti-clickbait formulas. RELATED STORIES Mobile ad-blockers could wipe out billions in ad revenue Facebook opens hardware lab, in a sign of broader ambitions

2016-08-05 06:00 Associated Press technology.inquirer.net

21 2 dead, 1 hurt in trike, truck collision in Albay LEGAZPI CITY — At least two were killed in a vehicular accident in Daraga town in Albay on Thursday. Senior Inspector Maria Louisa Calubaquib, information officer of Bicol police, said in a report, that Edward de la Cruz, 28, driver, and a passenger named Bienvenido Lumberio of Barangay Binanuahan, Legazpi City, died after their tricycle accidentally collided with a truck driven by Bernabe Abayane, a resident of Hinabangan, Samar, at 2:40 p.m. in Barangay (village) Busay. Another passenger of the tricycle identified as Tess Imperial, 33, of Barangay Bogtong, Legazpi City, was injured and brought to Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital. Based on the investigation, the tricycle entered into the lane of the truck which was heading in the opposite direction and that resulted in a head-on collision. Abayane is now in the custody of the Daraga Municipal Police Station. SFM

2016-08-05 06:00 Ma. newsinfo.inquirer.net

22 Sonia Gandhi undergoing treatment for shoulder injury New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi, admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital following dehydration and fever, is also undergoing treatment for a shoulder injury, said a doctor. Sonia Gandhi An internationally acclaimed team of shoulder experts, comprising of Sanjay Desai from Mumbai and Prateek Gupta from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, is attending on her, said D. S. Rana, Chairman of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Board of Management. Sources in the hospital said Gandhi suffered fractured dislocation of the left shoulder during her rally in Varanasi. Rana said that all health parameters of Gandhi were showing improvement and she will soon be shifted out of the ICU. Earlier, Gandhi, who took ill in Varanasi on Tuesday, was admitted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital. She was shifted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on Wednesday.

2016-08-05 06:00 By IANS www.mid-day.com

23 23 Mumbai: Portion of building collapses in Girgaum, residents rescued A portion of a building in Girgaum collapsed, injuring one, at around 8 pm last night. Locals look on as fire brigade continue their rescue ops. The injured woman has been moved to GT Hospital while the fire brigade has rescued eight others. Bhagirathi is a three-storeyed structure located in Fanaswadi. It is a dilapidated structure that had already been served an eviction notice by MHADA. Fire brigade team continue their operations. A portion of the building’s second and third floor collapsed on the adjacent Kumbhkirti building. The common wall of both the buildings also collapsed. Bina Devi (20), who was just dining in Kumbhkirti, suffered injuries to her limbs when the debris collapsed on her. “She got injured because a portion of the metal roof fell on her. She was eating her dinner at the time and couldn’t escape it. She has been admitted to GT Hospital,” said SD Sawant, additional divisional fire officer. Four women stranded in Bhagirathi were rescued with the help of ladders, while four others trapped in the next building were rescued via the stairs.

2016-08-05 06:00 By Tanvi www.mid-day.com

24 Mumbai police arrest contractors for parking ticket racket After Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation ( BMC) found out about the illegal collections in its pay and park facilities in 'A' ward, the Mumbai police on Thursday arrested the contractors involved in the matter. The accused were produced before a magistrate who has remanded them to police custody till Saturday. More than a month ago, the BMC's 'A' ward office had complained at the MRA Marg Police Station about collection of illegal parking charges. A company called R T Corporation, which had got the contract for running a civic Pay and Park facility at Hutatma Chowk, was found to be overcharging people. The BMC charges Rs 20 per hour for car parking in its public parking lots. But this contractor was allegedly charging Rs 100 per hour. The contractor allegedly was also giving forged receipts to motorists. Two employees of the company were arrested by the police and an FIR has been filed against them under section 465, 468, 420 of the IPC. The police is now looking for the owner of the company.

2016-08-05 06:00 By Tanvi www.mid-day.com

25 'Rude' Maharashtra minister gets flak for 'selfie' at collapsed bridge Maharashtra Housing Minister Prakash Mehta on Thursday went to inspect the the bridge that collapsed in the flood in Savitri river. But instead of the focus being on the rescue operations, he made it a media spectacle by first clicking a selfie near a the collapsed bridge and later misbehaving with media persons there. Mehta -- the guardian minister of Raigad district -- was seen cliking a selfie while Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Opposition Leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil were inspecting the tragedy site on Wednesday afternoon. Prakash Mehta talking to media at the site When some media persons questioned him on the matter and also the fact that he had reportedly learnt of the tragedy after nearly nine hours, Mehta lost his cool and abused the television reporter on Thursday. The media reacted to the abuse of their compatriot by calling for Mehta's boycott. Congress leaders like Vijay Wadettiwar and Abdul Sattar demanded his resignation for clicking a selfie when rescue operations were in full swing to locate two missing buses, other vehicles and their occupants. Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil said that "this shows the seriousness of the government and its minister". Even ally Shiv Sena raised eyebrows, with party legislator Neelam Gorhe urging Fadnavis to take cognisance of the matter. "It is surprising this has come from a senior minister," she told a news agency. Irked by the minister's behaviour, several media organisations, including the Press Club of India, Mumbai Press Club, TV Journalists Association, Mantralay ani Vidhimandal Vartahar Sangh, Crime Reporters Association and others condemned him. At least two buses with 22 people and four to five private vehicles were washed away early on Wednesday in floodwaters after a British-era bridge collapsed on the Mumbai-Goa highway. Twitterati too weren't silent and launched an all-out attack on him. Here are some of the tweets: This is BJP's reaction to the controversy.

2016-08-05 06:00 By mid www.mid-day.com

26 Mudslide leaves 200 tourists trapped in Lavasa near Pune Pune: With heavy rains battering Pune district for the last 48 hours, a mudslide has blocked the route leading to Lavasa, trapping around 200 people in the in the resort township 60 km from Pune. Representational Pic The incident occured on Wednesday, when a large mass of soil tumbled from the slopes of the Dasve Ghat near Ekaant Hotel Resort due to incessant rain, blocking the only route from Pune to Lavasa. The continuous downpour has thwarted efforts to the clear the road as well. With no other option but to stay put, the guests have checked in to the four- five major hotels in Lavasa. A tourist told mid-day , "We had come to Lavasa to attend a workshop on Wednesday. However, we had planned to return late evening but as the news spread about loose boulders and landslides, we were asked to halt at the hotel. We will now leave as soon as the debris is cleared. " Rajendra Muthe, Resident District Collector, said, "We too came to know that it was a landslide in two places in Lavasa due to which the roads were blocked. It seems that mudslides has occurred. We have sent our team to help the authorities to clear the debris. There are no casualties reported as yet. " A spokeperson for Lavasa said, "Lavasa and adjoining areas have witnessed incessant heavy rains for the last fortnight. This has led to minor landslides on roads leading to the hill city. However, there has been no damage to life or property. The road blocks are being cleared by the Lavasa's Emergency Response Team. Lavasa Corporation maintains a properly equipped Emergency Repose Team round the clock to act and resolve the issues immediately. " Lavasa Corporation has appealed to the tourists to avoid coming to the hill city for at least a couple of days. Inclement weather also triggered minor landslides in the Malshej Ghat area and the Varanda Ghat region in Bhor Taluk. No casualties have been reported in these two incidents also.

2016-08-05 06:00 By Chaitraly www.mid-day.com

27 Digong: End ‘endo,’ or I kill you After silencing drug suspects, the Punisher may soon train his guns—literally —on “endo” business owners. Harping on his campaign pledge, President Duterte has issued a stern warning to businessmen practicing “endo” (end of contract), the colloquial term for contractualization, an illegal hiring system which denies workers of regular employment. The scheme involves the hiring of employees for less than six months to bypass the law which mandates the regularization of workers who have been hired for over six months. “I’m telling this to you. I’m just issuing a warning. You choose: Stop contractualization or I kill you,” the President said in his speech before members of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting in Malacañang on Wednesday night. “You know why? I can utter things like that. I am [the] President. I have immunity. I can summon you. I will shoot you [and order] ‘Bring him to the funeral parlor. You’re making me angry,’” he said in Filipino and English. “I will call you here. I’ll slap you one by one. I’m used to that. I really kick people. Believe me. Even policemen in Davao. Nobody was exempted.” The former longtime Davao City mayor, infamously known as the Punisher for advocating the summary killings of criminals, said Labor Secretary Silvestro Bello III had told him that the Department of Labor lacked personnel to inspect every business establishments in the country. Mr. Duterte, who vowed to curb criminality and the illegal drug trade within the first six months of his administration, had promised to end the practice of “endo” and close down businesses hiring employees on a contractual basis. The President reiterated his administration’s “no tolerance” policy against contractualization, saying he had directed Bello to check the records of businesses engaged in the illegal practice. “I cannot inspect every business across the Philippines,” Mr. Duterte said. “If we have no power to close down [the business], I will go there and shoot [the owner]. Then it’s over. The business is now closed down.” “[But] that’s just hyperbole,” he said, eliciting laughter from his audience, which included several Catholic priests and nuns. But Bello on Wednesday said there is a need to carefully study the proposal of some labor groups to criminalize the hiring of contractual workers. “We have to study that very, very carefully because it might be too harsh to criminalize contractualization,” said Bello. “To me, initially, off hand, my position would be just the administrative penalty. Like closure and cancellation of permit,” he said. Meanwhile, Bello said one company engaged in manpower services and employs over 500 people, many of whom were complaining that they were underpaid, is facing possible closure. “The complainants came to us, saying they were underpaid. Their salary is P200 per day. This is clear violation of the minimum wage law… If these are verified we will enforce the penalty as provided by law,” he said.

2016-08-05 05:39 Marlon Ramos newsinfo.inquirer.net

28 Wet weather may make weekend traffic worse Still like to read the newspaper in the familiar page-by-page format? Great news! Digital versions of today’s paper are available on your computer or tablet. And it’s included in your subscription. Traveling brings us joy. In fact, just planning a vacation can relieve stress and make us happy. Wondering where to go? Our special digital presentation will inspire that next journey, whether you’re staying close to home or traveling across the globe.

2016-08-05 05:22 Powered by commuting.blog.myajc.com

29 Free aging cons, decongest jails Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto called on President Duterte on Thursday to decongest the country’s rotting and cramped jails, saying old and ailing convicts should be freed to give way to scores of new ones expected to be netted in the government’s stepped up war against criminality. Describing the congestion as “worse than being tightly packed like sausages,” Recto called on the President to grant parole to “old, infirm or gravely or terminally ill prisoners” especially to those serving time for crimes that are not heinous. “[He] must set in motion a process that will grant liberty to prisoners sick of cancer, the aged, the infirm, those who can be freed on humanitarian grounds,” Recto said, pointing out that Mr. Duterte must commit to this in the same way he has expressed readiness to free political prisoners to pave the way for peace talks with communists. He encouraged Mr. Duterte to outdo his predecessor in exercising his pardon power as empowered by the Constitution, noting that Mr. Aquino had granted clemency only 67 times throughout his six-year term. Tarra Quismundo

2016-08-05 05:37 Philippine Daily newsinfo.inquirer.net

30 DARPA researching camera technology that can see around walls — RT America The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is providing a $4.4 million grant to the Morgridge Institute for Research, an organization affiliated with the University of Madison-Wisconsin, to develop “non-line-of-sight imaging” camera technology, which can allow users to see around corners of solid objects. The technology was first demonstrated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher Andreas Velten in 2012. It works by sending a pulse of laser light into a room, causing the beam to hit a ceiling or wall, scattering and bouncing off surfaces and objects. Some of the scattered information makes it back to the sensor, allowing for a computer to construct an accurate picture of what the room looks like. Velten now leads a team of researchers on the project at Morgridge and UW-Wisconsin, and the DARPA grant will fund four years of research. The first two years will be set aside to research the possibilities of the technology, and the subsequent two years will be dedicated to actually engineer usable hardware for production. “The more times you can bounce this light within a scene, the more possible data you can collect,” Velten said . “Since the first light is the strongest, and each proceeding bounce gets weaker and weaker, the sensor has to be sensitive enough to capture even a few photons of light.” The scientists are currently collaborating with Mohit Gupta, assistant professor of computer sciences at UW-Madison, who is creating algorithms to solve the difficult problem of reconstructing the mess of photons to paint a picture of what they bounced back from. “The information we will get is going to be noisy and the shapes will be blob-like, not much to the naked eye, so the visualization part of this will be huge,” Gupta says. “Because this problem is so new, we don’t even know what’s possible.” The team has high hopes for the technology, believing that it could be used to help rescue people from fires, explore shipwrecks or even map caves on the moon.

2016-08-05 05:24 www.rt.com

31 Pimentels bat for federalism, PH-style We should adopt the system but adapt it in the local context. Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and his father, former Senate President Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., on Thursday both pushed for the crafting of a “uniquely Filipino” model of federalism—one that would address the problematic concentration of power in Metro Manila and encourage development throughout the country while considering our cultural diversity. Noting that centralized governance had hampered countryside development, both Pimentels said federalism would be a more suitable option for a country whose progress had long been stratified among local governments, its recent economic rise hardly felt in the fringe communities. “We are in search of a unique Philippine model,” Koko Pimentel told reporters in an interview on Thursday. The Senate president said the Philippines should look at the “best features” of the federal systems in other parts of the world to craft a system uniquely Filipino—from across Europe, North America, Australia, neighboring Malaysia, and “emerging federations” in South America and Africa. “Federalism’s complex nature demands careful study. Scholars contend there is not one model in the world that fits all. Each country must discern its own version of federalism according to peculiar conditions in its society,” said the younger Pimentel in a keynote speech at a federalism forum in the Senate on Thursday. “Therefore it is important to learn from the experiences—whether good or bad—of existing federations,” he added. The federalism forum was held days after a Pulse Asia survey showed that public opinion was not convincingly for amending the Constitution in order to shift to a federal system—44 percent of respondents were in favor of Charter change, while 37 percent were against it. Tarra Quismundo 2016-08-05 05:36 Philippine Daily newsinfo.inquirer.net

32 Gang rape videos on sale in India as sex crimes against women soar — RT News Short clips, lasting from 30 seconds to five minutes, are downloaded directly to a customer’s cell phone as soon as the content has been paid for, The Times of India reported. The prices depend on how “exclusive” a clip is and vary from 50 to 150 rupees per clip ($0.75- $2). The trade turnover is quite significant with hundreds, or even thousands, of videos being sold every day. “We are aware. We are taking necessary action. But it is difficult, as the sales are happening below the counter,” Ajay Sharma, a deputy inspector general of police in the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, said, according to Reuters. As sales are under-the-table, dealers are reluctant to offer footage to new customers unless they have a reference from a trusted client. “Porn is passe. These real life crimes are the rage,” a shop owner in Agra said, according to The Times of India. “Dealers will download videos directly into your smart phone or put them in your pen drive,” he added. The materials are sometimes taken from Twitter, Tumbler or Facebook, The Times of India said. In other cases, sex offenders shoot videos of rapes or assaults and put them online or use them as a tool to blackmail the victims. Recently a number of horrifying gang rapes have been reported in Uttar Pradesh. At the end of July a gang ambushed a car with a mother and a 14-year-old daughter on the Delhi-Kanpur National Highway. The women were raped for three hours while being held at gunpoint. Fifteen suspects were detained after police launched an investigation. “The family was returning from Noida. A few miscreants tried to rob the family and then did certain indecent things. We are investigating the case further,” a policeman said, according to Channel NewsAsia. On Tuesday a teacher was gangraped in a field in broad daylight not far from linking Delhi-Lucknow National Highway 24, Indian Express reported. Local Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has been in hot water ever since reports of this kind of attacks intensified with the LawlessUP hashtag and calls for his resignation trending on Twitter. There were 337,922 reports of violent acts against women, including rape, molestation and abduction in 2014 which is nine percent more than in 2013, according to Reuters.

2016-08-05 05:24 www.rt.com

33 Buying Justice: Integrity Of A High Court When attorney Michael Fuller’s private Lear jet landed in West Virginia in June 2016, he brought $1.3 million worth of unwelcome memories with him. Fuller is a named partner at the Mississippi-based McHugh Fuller Law Group, a small law practice wielding influence in multiple states that specializes in nursing home negligence and appearances of impropriety. The five lawyer operation has proved remarkably effective — the firm boasts hundreds of millions of dollars in judgements in recent years. One of the largest single verdicts he secured came in a West Virginia case in 2011, when he won a $91.5 million award in Kanawha County circuit court for Tom Douglas, whose wife Dorothy died of abuse resulting from her stay in a Charleston nursing home. The case began to work its away through the state’s appeals courts — the nursing home petitioned for a reduced judgement, as the $91.5 million figure dramatically exceeds the state’s cap on punitive damages (Douglas was awarded $11.5 in compensatory damages and an $80 million punitive award). As both parties had a great deal at stake, the case, without doubt, would be settled by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The case was taken up by the West Virginia high court in 2014. Unknown to the nursing home’s lawyers and the four associate justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals was Fuller’s close financial relationship with Chief Justice Robin Jean Davis. Between 2011 and 2012, Fuller purchased a Lear jet model 31A from Davis’s husband Scott Segal, while he and others at the McHugh Fuller Law Group and individuals connected to the firm donated almost $30,000 to her 2012 reelection effort, in what a campaign finance expert says resembles an illegal straw donor ring. Sources with knowledge of an investigation say Fuller is the subject of a law enforcement probe. ‘Those are all red flags to me’ The aircraft exchange was facilitated by GKG Law, a boutique law firm based in Washington, D. C., that specializes in corporate aviation acquisitions. Filings obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation indicate GKG attorney Katharine Meyer incorporated a shell entity called GKG Acquisitions CLXIV on July 1, 2011 solely for the Segal-Fuller transaction (the corporation was dissolved on July 10, 2012, shortly after the sale was successfully executed). GKG Acquisitions took possession of the aircraft from another entity, Alpine Air Inc., on Sept. 12, 2011. Incorporation records obtained by TheDCNF list Segal as president and incorporator. The entity’s principal address is Segal’s law practice, Segal Law, in Charleston, W. Va. The plane was purchased by a third shell entity, MF Property Management, from GKG Acquisitions on December 30, 2011, according to Federal Aviation Administration registration records. Fuller’s name is the only name publicly associated with the entity, whose principal address in Hattiesburg, Mississippi is the same as the McHugh Fuller Law Group. There is no information TheDCNF reviewed which indicates GKG was aware of any possible impropriety between Segal and Fuller. The deal was successfully transacted in 6 months, an expeditious sale compared to other exchanges during that period. Though TheDCNF was not able to definitively ascertain the amount paid for the aircraft, the price range of a 2000s era 31A model is between $1.3 and $1.9 million, according to retail prices . Davis did not disclose the sizable transaction on her 2012 financial disclosure report , despite a requirement to report all income in amounts over $1,000. The justice did list Alpine Air in a list of businesses in which she or her spouse serve as officers. She identified the entity as an “aircraft holding co.” Just two weeks after he took title of Segal’s lear jet, 18 individuals connected to Fuller contributed $1,000 to Justice Davis’s reelection campaign, according to contribution records reviewed by TheDCNF. The donations came from seven employees of the McHugh Fuller Law Group; Fuller, McHugh, firm associates Bryant Chaffin, Anthony Reins, and Amy Quezon, Darrell Simmons, the firm’s pilot, and Christine Althoff. Five individuals related to McHugh Fuller employees also donated the maximum amount to Davis’s campaign, including Fuller’s mother and father Michael and Karon Fuller, Anthony Reins’s wife Lisa Reins, Bryant Chaffin’s wife Jamie Chaffin, and Matthew Wilde, who shares a residence with Amy Quezon according to public records and identified as a college student. In addition to the bevy of McHugh Fuller contributions, another six donations came by way of six individuals from Plant City, Florida. Fuller previously practiced law in the area as a prosecutor. The contributors all appear closely connected to Steve Edwards, president of a Plant City landscaping company called S&O Greenworks whom Fuller represented in class action litigation, Steve Edwards v. Motorola, Inc. , in 2007. Though no contributions were made in Edwards’s name, several came from individuals close to him and his company. His wife, Jennifer Edwards, appears to have made two contributions to the Davis reelection effort. One contribution was made in her married name, and another was made in the name Jennifer Schlichenmayer, Edwards’s maiden name. Two other S&O Greenworks employees, Oscar Villanueva and Michelle Edwards also made donations. Additional contributions came from Kylen Suggs and Tammy Miller, neighbors of Steve and Jennifer Edwards; Suggs, Miller, and Edwards all live on Oak Creek Drive in Brandon, Fla., a street of modest means. It is unclear what connection the Floridians have to West Virginia judicial politics beyond their association with Steve Edwards and Michael Fuller. None have extensive histories of political activism that TheDCNF could identify. Plant City contributors reached by TheDCNF gave a wide spectrum of answers about their donations. Suggs immediately terminated the call when pressed about the donations. Multiple queries to Steve Edwards, S&O Greenworks, and Wilde went unanswered. Miller says she supports Davis and plans to remain active in West Virginia judicial politics. The Plant City contributions in particular may indicate a straw donation scheme. Straw donations occur when individuals use another’s money to make donations in their own name. Paul Ryan, deputy executive director at the Campaign Legal Center, says the fact posture of the Florida donations are similar to those of other straw donor rackets. Ryan did not pass a definitive judgement on the facts of this case, and emphasized he is not an expert on the campaign finance laws particular to West Virginia. “$1,000 contributions are highly unusual from people of modest means in my experience,” he told TheDCNF. “Particularly when the contribution is going to someone in another state, when the contribution is coming from someone with no track record of involving themselves as political contributors, those are all red flags to me.” “I wouldn’t say that at any point in my career would I refer to straw donors as a common practice,” he added. “It’s always unusual, it’s always a big deal, in my opinion, and I want to see strong enforcement to prevent use of straw donors.” He also suggested the donations attributed to Jennifer Edwards specifically may be illegal. “The contribution limits … apply simply per person. If the aggregate total of contributions given by this woman … exceed the limit applicable to a person’s contribution to a candidate, that’s illegal.” The donations from McHugh Fuller employees, their family members, and the donations from Plant City residents, were all made on January 12, 2012. The Fuller-connected contributions on January 12 totaled $18,000. The January 12 contributions were not the only donations made to Davis by McHugh Fuller and others near-firm principals. Less than two months before the election, on Sept. 18, Fuller, McHugh, Quezon, Simmons, Althoff, Wilde, and Anthony and Lisa Reins all made additional contributions to Davis in the amount of $1,000. Jamie Lee Thomas, Fuller’s inamorata with whom he fathered a child, also contributed the maximum amount to Davis on the 18th. In total, TheDCNF can confirm McHugh, Fuller, firm lawyers, and others in the firm’s orbit donated at least $27,000 to the justice’s reelection effort. Mark Ferguson, a West Virginia lawyer who served as the campaign’s treasurer, declined to comment for this story. Davis won reelection to the court on November 6, 2012. Her term expires in 2024. Other West Virginia Democrats benefited from the firm’s beneficence. Both Fuller and McHugh individually contributed $10,000 to the West Virginia State Democratic Executive Committee on July 10, 2012. A group associated with the practice also gave extensively to Letitia Chafin, a Democrat candidate for the state Supreme Court of Appeals; in June 2012, Lisa Reins, Jamie Chaffin, Villanueva, Suggs, and Thomas all donated $1,000 to Chafin. A retired McHugh Fuller attorney, Philip Chaffin, also donated $1,000. Chafin did not win a seat on the court, receiving 22 percent of the vote in a field of four. ‘Shockingly result-oriented analysis’ The Douglas appeal reached the West Virginia high court two years after the election and the sale of the lear jet, in 2014. Oral arguments in the case were heard on March 5th of that year. Fuller himself argued the case before the justices. Despite McHugh Fuller’s substantial history of support for her campaign, and the considerable profit she accrued in her family’s quick sale of the lear jet to Fuller, Davis did not recuse herself from the case. The court issued an opinion in the matter June 18, several months later. Davis authored the court’s opinion , preserving $42 million of the original $92 million award. Justice Allen Loughry, who defeated Chafin — the firm’s preferred candidate — for a seat on the court in 2012, filed a blistering dissent , blasting Davis’s interpretative gymnastics. “I am not surprised that the majority attempts to hide its shockingly result- oriented analysis in a seventy-two page tome,” he wrote. “Without question, the biases and whims of the majority are on full display in its boldly tortured analysis.” Justice Davis and Michael Fuller declined to comment for this story. Fuller returns to West Virginia Aug. 8 in pursuit of another major verdict. Proceedings in Wanda Williams v. CMO Management, another nursing home conglomerate, begin next week. Geoffrey Ingersoll contributed to this report Follow Kevin on Twitter Send tips to [email protected] . Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 05:23 dailycaller.com

34 VA Employee Defrauded Taxpayers A top benefits appeals manager at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) didn’t show up for work for six months but kept cashing his federal paycheck as he opened and operated a motorcycle apparel and accessories business. Robert Gingell was paid $140,000 a year by VA throughout the time he claimed he was sick or working from home. He retired in September 2015 after being caught but was subjected to no punishment or restitution. He now operates Renegade Classics Northern Virginia in Manassas, Va., part of a nationwide chain of outlets that specializes in clothing and gear that appeals to Harley-Davidson owners. Gingell was a GS-15 civil servant — the highest paid General Schedule category — serving as a Supervisory Administrative Service Manager at the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA). The BVA hears appeals from veterans whose claims have been denied. Records show Gingell’s store was incorporated in December 2014, and he created a Facebook page the same month claiming the business was “coming soon.” An unpublished VA Inspector General (IG) report obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation said “time and attendance records reflected that [Gingell] was on sick leave more than 22 weeks between January and August 2015.” “We’re super excited because we got our business license yesterday and we’re prepared to open our story and begin serving Northern Virginia’s biking community one month from today,” Gingell said in a video posted Feb. 23, 2015. The same month, he posted pictures of himself, looking healthy and wearing a shirt fit for heavy labor, surrounded by carpentry equipment and tools. He submitted a doctor’s note to VA saying he couldn’t work, but, “although the heading on the note reflected a legitimate medical practice, the signature on the note was unrecognizable as either of the named practitioners,” according to the IG. After bosses became skeptical about how long-running the illness was, he said he eventually became well enough to work, but unable to commute and thus needed to work from home. Bob Gingell / Facebook photo https://www.facebook.com/rcnorthernvirginiabikeroutletstore/ “A BVA employee emailed the Deputy Director an internet link to an RCNV YouTube video titled, Bob’s & Helen’s Welcome Video, which featured Mr. Gingell and his wife discussing the eminent grand opening of RCNV… Mr. Gingell’s initial request for sick leave was 5 days prior to this posting.” A VA employee who visited the shop “observed Bob working behind the counter.” In September 2015, an IG investigator also “observed Mr. Gingell working at RCNV during his duty hours and while on sick leave, engaging him in conversation about specific products in his inventory.” The next week, Gingell told VA he planned “to retire in the next few months. At this time I would like my retirement to be effective 2-1-16.” It appeared he expected to be paid for four months of sick leave before his retirement became effective. But when the IG subpoenaed his store’s business records, Gingell immediately “appeared at an HR Specialist’s office with retirement forms completed and signed, asking that his retirement be effective” immediately instead, the IG said. At that point, the IG announced that “we are administratively closing this allegation, as Mr. Gingell retired from VA effective September 21, 2015,” with no further actions planned. James Hutton, a VA spokesman, would not say how or if the department will seek to recover some or all of the salary and benefits Gingell received during the months he claimed to be sick or working from home as he was preparing and opening his store. Reached at the store’s phone number, Gingell told TheDCNF Wednesday that “I didn’t start a business. I didn’t work here either… Did I spend time here, yes. Did I work here, no… I don’t understand, what are you trying to accomplish, what it is that you want?” Gingell refused to describe his physical ailment and said he has no plans to reimburse taxpayers. “I had a legitimate reason for not being at work and I did not work here,” he said. Bob Gingell of the VA / Facebook photo https://www.facebook.com/rcnorthernvirginiabikeroutletstore/ Follow Luke on Twitter. Send tips to [email protected]. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 05:23 Investigative Reporter dailycaller.com

35 Gold King Owner 'Disheartened' 1 Year After EPA Spill An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) crew spilled three million gallons of toxic waste from Colorado’s Gold King Mine into western rivers one year ago Friday, but little has since come from the disaster other than expanding government. “One year and countless shifting stories from the Obama Administration later, communities impacted by the EPA-caused blowout at the Gold King Mine have more questions than answers,” Committee on Natural Resources spokeswoman Molly Block told The Daily Caller News Foundation. Department of the Interior “and EPA have stonewalled Congress, the press and the public.” The spill ultimately poisoned drinking water for three states and the Navajo Nation with 880,000 pounds of dangerous metals like lead and arsenic. No one has been fired or punished for the incident, a criminal probe is still underway and an inspector general report was postponed. Meanwhile, the EPA has continued its work in the region and locals caved to the agency’s long-running pressure to make the region a Superfund site – a destination that would give officials additional funding and power over the local economy. “I’m just disheartened,” Gold King Mine owner Todd Hennis told TheDCNF. “I didn’t have much faith in the EPA before the spill and my faith has not increased.” The EPA forced Hennis to grant officials access to his land, despite his fear the agency would cause a blowout. (RELATED: Gold King Mine Owner Fears EPA’s ‘Limitless Legal Budget’) He added that Americans “can’t feel comfortable” that their government will hold itself accountable. “I frankly despair that there will be no results from the investigation,” Hennis said, comparing it to the FBI’s decision not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton for transmitting classified material on her private server. Evidence uncovered by congressional and media investigations have compiled overwhelming evidence against the EPA: There are even arguments that the EPA intentionally spilled the mine waste to secure a Superfund site. “Was it only negligence or was it intentional to have a spill happen to create a Superfund site?” Hennis said. “If you wanted to have a Superfund site in the San Juan, nothing could make it easier than this.” And The EPA’s response to the spill suggested a cover up. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Feds’ ‘Deception’ Hides The True Cause Of The Gold King Mine Disaster) Agency officials selected the Department of the Interior (DOI) to conduct an “ independent ” review of the spill, for example. Numerous DOI agencies were heavily involved at Gold King Mine and the surrounding regions. (RELATED: EPA Accused This Agency Of Gold King Mine Pollution, Then Asked Them To Independently Investigate) Additionally, the Army Corps of Engineers – a truly independent agency – was mysteriously stripped of most of its review authority at the last minute. Even the EPA’s involvement leading up to the spill were questionable. The agency used scare tactics in an attempt to coerce a nearby town to accept a Superfund designation years before the spill. “San Juan County, the elected officials, I think, regret caving into Superfund under enormous pressure from the state of Colorado and other parties,” Hennis said. The EPA also argues decades of mine waste have made Animas River tributaries uninhabitable for fish. Yet the agency’s own report contradicts that claim , admitting that it’s possible aquatic life could never live in those creeks. “It all comes down to the issues of power for the EPA and budget,” Hennis said. The EPA declined to comment and instead pointed to its retrospective report published July 29. That too, however, had inconsistencies. The report, for example, said the EPA took “planning precautions as if [Gold King Mine] were pressurized.” But the agency did not actually test for pressure and dug into the mine’s plug without water draining equipment on site. “The EPA site supervisor deliberately ignored written instructions to have a stinger and pipe on site before attempting to open up the portal at Gold King,” Hennis said, citing a Natural Resources committee investigation . The EPA has also spent more than $29 million responding to the spill, TheDCNF previously reported. Yet Navajo Nation farmers still haven’t been compensated for their losses from the disaster, Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye said, the Navajo-Hopi Observer recently reported. Meanwhile, private companies responsible for spills similar to the EPA’s Gold King Mine disaster likely would have faced heavy fines and even jail time. “The government, for whatever reason, is treating itself more favorably than it would a private party,” Paul Larkin, a former federal attorney who now works for the conservative Heritage Foundation, previously told TheDCNF’s Michael Bastach. “If these were private parties they would have opened a criminal investigation.” New Mexico has since filed lawsuits against the EPA, Colorado, mine owners (not including Hennis), and the EPA contractor working at Gold King Mine. The Navajo Nation and local officials did not respond to requests for comment. Follow Ethan on Twitter Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 05:23 dailycaller.com

36 Russell Square stabbings: Darlene Horton named as victim The US citizen killed in a knife attack in central London has been named by police as 64-year-old Darlene Horton. A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after she was killed and five other people were injured in Russell Square. Florida State University (FSU) has confirmed Ms Horton was the wife of psychology professor Richard Wagner. Two other women and three men received various injuries in the attack, which happened near the Imperial Hotel. One person from the group remains in hospital while the others have since been discharged. None of the injuries were life-threatening. After receiving treatment in hospital, the arrested man, who was detained in Bedford Place, is now in police custody in south London. Norwegian police said in a statement the man had emigrated from Norway in 2002 and they were assisting London police. The Met said they had searched an address in north London on Thursday morning and another will be searched in south London. The US ambassador to the UK, Matthew Barzun, said of the woman who died: "Heartbreaking news that a US citizen was killed in #RussellSquare attack. My prayers are with all the victims and their loved ones. " FSU President John Thrasher spoke of the university's "heartache" over the "terrible tragedy". He said: "We are shocked that such senseless violence has touched our own FSU family, and we will do all we can to assist Professor Wagner and his loved ones, as well as his friends and colleagues in the Psychology department, as they mourn. " The couple had planned to return home to Tallahassee on Thursday. Police believe the attack on Wednesday was "spontaneous", with victims "selected at random". The injured people were from the UK, the US, Israel and Australia. Met Police assistant commissioner for specialist operations Mark Rowley said the investigation was increasingly pointing to the attack being "triggered by mental health issues". He had earlier said the force was considering terrorism as a line of inquiry. Mr Rowley, Britain's most senior counter-terrorism officer, told a press conference it had been necessary to consider "all possibilities" following recent terror attacks across Europe. Armed police entered the square shortly after 22:30 BST on Wednesday having received reports of a man attacking people with a knife. They arrived within six minutes and chased the suspect, who eyewitnesses said had blood on his hands. They said police ordered him to stand still but he kept running. He was then Tasered by officers. Jodie Parry, who witnessed the events unfold from her hotel window, said she saw a man running down the street. "I could hear the policeman screaming 'stop, don't move, don't go any further, just stay where you are', and he turned round and continued running," she said. She added that the man was carrying a knife and had blood on his hands. Paul Ó Geibheannaigh, who lives near to the square, said he had seen the body of the woman "on the pavement" and the area was surrounded by a "heavy armed police presence". Mr Rowley said there would be an increased police presence on the streets in the wake of the attack - including armed officers - to "provide reassurance and safety". Met commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said the force's "swift response undoubtedly helped prevent more people from getting injured". London Mayor Sadiq Khan cut short his holiday following the attack and will hold a briefing at City Hall at 15:30 BST. He said police were doing an "incredibly difficult job" and the safety of Londoners was his "number one priority". The Met said the attack was not linked to a separate stabbing in Wandsworth, south-west London, on Wednesday, in which one man was killed and two others injured. Earlier on Wednesday, Sir Bernard and Mr Khan had said there would be more armed police seen on patrol in London. Sir Bernard announced the move to reassure the public and deter attackers following terror attacks in Europe.

2016-08-05 04:19 www.bbc.co.uk

37 One dead in Bonney Lake house fire During a July 31 stop at the Olympia Yacht Club to pick-up former Olympia mayor Mark Foutch and his wife Janet for their birthday celebratory cruise Winifred skipper Greg Gilbert offers a quick tour of the historic yacht which still possesses the boat's actual 1928 logbook from its competition in the first "Capital to Capital" (Olympia, Wa. to Juneau AK.) race. Built in 1926 at the request of Olympia Brewery founding family member Adolph Schmidt, and naming it after his wife, the 47-foot wooden yacht has been owned and operated for the past 16 years by Greg Gilbert,who lives aboard. The Winifred also competed in the first "Capital to Capital" (Olympia, Wa. to Juneau AK.) race in 1928 with thew original log book still on-board. Larry Mackey talks about the Elite Shot Trainer, a tool he created to help lacrosse players develop proper shooting technique. Police, firefighters, military personnel and even a few stormtroopers came together Tuesday night for National Night Out in Gig Harbor. Led by organizer Candace Wesley, a National Night Out event was held as planned at Legacy Park apartments in Lakewood, the scene of a fire a week ago that displaced about 30 tenants. Medicine Creek Analytics, the marijuana testing lab owned by the Puyallup Tribe on Pacific Highway in Fife, will help maintain quality control now that the tribe has signed a compact with the state to sell and grow medical and recreational marijuana. Tribal chairman Bill Sterud and scientific director Aaron Stancik PhD discuss the lab's mission and the potential value of medical marijuana. Thousands turned out to try their hand at the obstacle course and enjoy family friendly activities. Pullers who traveled from Beecher Bay, on Vancouver Island, said they weren’t tired despite 10 days of travel. Festivities will continue on the Nisqually reservation during the coming week. The Bubbles for Bottoms charity event sold bubble-making solution and wands to help purchase diapers for the St. Leo Food Connection. The event, held at Tacoma's Jefferson Park, drew at least 50 people on Saturday, July 30, 2016. Organizers said diapers and diaper wipes are a necessity that many families in the community struggle to afford. Kai Shultz, a 14-year-old transgender boy, and his family in Gig Harbor discuss his transition and outrage over the shooting in Orlando. Lisa and Dmitri Keating of Tacoma say they weren't surprised when their child Stella transitioned from boy to girl. They talk about how they have provided support for her.

2016-08-05 04:16 www.thenewstribune.com

38 38 Protesters Interrupt And Silence Hillary In Las Vegas The talents of the Secret Service were on full display Thursday at Hillary Clinton’s campaign rally in Las Vegas when animal rights protestors interuped her speech. When the first Secret Service agent reached Clinton, he is overhead on a hot mic saying, “You’re okay. Keep talking. We’ll handle it. We’re not going anywhere.” A stunned Clinton then said, “Okay, we’ll keep talking.” A few moments later, in an attempt to make light of the situation, Clinton said, “Apparently these people are here to protest Trump because Trump and his kids have killed a lot of animals, so thank you for making that point.” WATCH: Follow Steve on Twitter and Facebook

2016-08-05 04:19 Media Reporter dailycaller.com

39 Broccoli Industry Doesn't Exist, Costs Taxpayers $5 Million Researchers at Cornell University are getting more than $5 million in taxpayer- funded federal grants to create a market for broccoli grown on the East Coast. A new grant from the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) aims to bolster small-scale broccoli growers so they can “compete with the best in the world in production efficiency and quality,” according to the project summary. About 90 percent of broccoli consumed in the U. S. comes from farms in California, and the vegetable doesn’t grow well in the northeast because the temperature doesn’t drop low enough at night. Researchers think that with new strains of broccoli, developed as part of the project, crops will fare better in the region. There’s demand for broccoli on the East Coast — broccoli a popular vegetables in the U. S. — but not enough of a demand to spur private industries like seed companies to create new broccoli types for the Northeast, according to Thomas Björkman, horticulture professor at Cornell and the director of the project. “Industry was not solving this on it’s own,” Björkman told The Daily Caller News Foundation. The problem was private seed companies didn’t see value in developing hybrid broccoli types that would grow well on the East Coast because the farms were too small, and wouldn’t yield large crops. “Seed companies weren’t interested because it was a very small market for seeds,” Björkman said. “The broccoli buyers said they wanted local crops, but couldn’t find any. The farmers said that buyers only wanted large quantities.” So, the broccoli industry would have to be built from scratch, and would need federal funds. First, the researchers received $50,000 in 2009 to bring together various agriculture experts to discuss the project at a workshop. Then, the USDA gave the researchers $3,172,100 in 2010 for the first five years of the project, which the researchers used to develop the new types of broccoli, and do some initial consumer testing. The new $2,019,142 grant follows two other USDA grants, totaling more than $3 million, aimed at building an East Coast broccoli industry. So far, that brings the total spent on the project to more than $5 million. Eastern broccoli demand “cannot be met until sufficiently adapted varieties are available and the distribution network is expanded,” the summary of the project says. Researchers expect that through the project, broccoli production on the East Coast will triple. Demand for broccoli, particularly locally-grown broccoli, is growing on the East Coast, according to the USDA. The most recent data from 2014 shows that U. S. consumption of broccoli has steadily increased. Only 10 percent of broccoli consumed in the US comes from imports, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service. The the researchers will use the $2 million to provide guidance to small growers so they can compete with big broccoli companies without the uncertainty of developing a new industry. The project has six promising broccoli types currently, and the researchers are now at the point where they can bring in seed companies to help market and sell the hybrid plants. Björkman estimates that the project needs five more years, at the current funding level, to complete the project. By that time, “the project will have done what it needed to do. All of those gaps will have been connected, so there is a market for the seed companies to supply the Eastern markets and enough buyers,” Björkman told TheDCNF. The broccoli grant is just one part of the USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which aims to help farmers overcome challenges like climate change. USDA announced a total of $36 million in specialty crop research funds Wednesday. “America’s specialty crop farmers face many challenges ranging from a changing climate to increasing production costs,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. “Investing in cutting edge research helps uncover solutions to keep their operations viable and ensures Americans have access to safe, affordable and diverse food options,” Visack said. Follow Thomas Phippen on Twitter Send tips to [email protected] . Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 04:19 dailycaller.com

40 China Says America in 'Decline' China said today that the real reason for America flexing its muscles in Korea is growing fear of an impending decline. America’s willingness to push forward on the “controversial deployment” of the Terminal High-Altitude Aerial Defense (THAAD) system “betrayed Washington’s deep-rooted Cold War mentality and its petty anxiety over the United States’ declining global hegemony,” reported Xinhua News Agency, a state-sponsored newspaper. Another recent report from the PLA Daily said that America’s determination to install THAAD on the Korean peninsula proves that the U. S. is sick. Apparently, we have “hegemonic anxiety disorder.” Washington argues that the planned THAAD deployment in South Korea, which was officially confirmed last month, is to protect the U. S. and its allies from missile threats emanating from the belligerent Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Despite American reassurances, China continues to express concern over THAAD. China’s primary argument against this missile defense system is that the missile shield is designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles and does nothing to prevent the DPRK from using short-range missiles to launch an attack on the Republic of Korea (ROK), which suggests that THAAD may be designed for other purposes. THAAD’s X-band radar extends over 1,200 miles, and China argues that it will allow the U. S. to peer into Chinese and Russian territories, collect radar data on Chinese and Russian warheads and strategic missiles, and effectively cripple each country’s nuclear deterrent. China claims that the THAAD deployment will negatively impact the regional balance of power in Northeast Asia and threaten Chinese and Russian national security. For years now, China has been arguing that the world is shifting towards multipolarity and is entering into the “post-American era,” and many Chinese criticisms regarding the pivot to Asia have presented the U. S. as a declining power attempting to contain a China which is peacefully rising. In a commentary produced by author Zhong Sheng, which translates to “Chinese Voice” and is said to represent official Chinese views, the Sheng affirmed that China will never compromise its security interests. “No one can underestimate China’s resolution and strength to safeguard its national security as it never fears external threats,” the article reads. For years, Chinese scholars and military officials have been pushing China to replace the U. S. as the dominant power globally or in Asia. For instance, in his 2010 book China’s Dream: Major Power Thinking and Strategic Posture in a Post-American Era, Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu asserts, “To save itself, to save the world, China must prepare to become the world’s helmsman.” China regularly refers to the U. S. as a “paper tiger.” In fact, in a recent Chinese article on U. S. plans for the Korean peninsula, the author wrote that “America’s ‘paper tiger’ mask looks frightening, but it doesn’t take much to poke a hole in it. We have no need to be afraid.” While China may downplay American power, Chinese concerns and consistently-negative rhetoric over plans for the deployment of THAAD in South Korea do far more to highlight Chinese fears that it may not achieve its grandiose ambitions. Send tips to ryan@ dailycallernewsfoundation.org . Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 04:19 dailycaller.com

41 Director Of 'Snowden' Has A PSA About Using Your Phones The director of “Snowden” has a public service announcement about using your phones — and it’s not a pretty picture. The P. S. A. titled “Turn off your phones,” accompanies the upcoming movie based on the real life story of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The director of the biopic, Oliver Stone, warns that by using one’s phones it could ruin your life. (RELATED: The Newest ‘Snowden’ Trailer Is Chilling [VIDEO]) WATCH: Stone starts out by praising the handheld devices that allow users to watch cat videos and order Chinese food at the same time. (RELATED: Watch The Official Trailer For ‘Snowden’ [VIDEO]) Then things turn dark as the director warns that “your every move” is being watched. “But that’s not all it does,” Stone said. “It allows certain parties to track your every move, every time you make a call, send a text.” “We are giving them access,” he added. “The information you’ve put out into the world voluntarily is enough to burn your life to the ground.” “Snowden” stares Joseph Gordon-Levitt and comes out September 16th.

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

42 Pence Clarifiies McCain Stance UPDATE: A Pence spokesman has clarified that the Indiana governor does support Sen. McCain and Sen. Ayotte. Republican vice presidential nominee Indiana Gov. Mike Pence refused Thursday to endorse Republican senators John McCain and Kelly Ayotte in their respective elections while calling for “new leadership.” “I look forward to supporting Republican candidates in the days and weeks ahead all over the country, and so does Donald Trump. But the stakes in this election are so high. To restore our country at home and abroad, we need new leadership,” Pence responded when asked by reporters whether he will endorse Arizona Sen. McCain and New Hampshire Sen. Ayotte. Pence added, “I’m looking forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with Donald Trump to drive that new leadership forward.” A longtime McCain confidant John Weaver tweeted out his displeasure with Pence’s remarks. “I remember traveling with John McCain to Indiana to campaign for, several times, for a desperate Mike Pence. Shame on him,” Weaver said. McCain’s primary is on August 30 and Ayotte’s is on September 13. Sen. McCain’s main primary challenger, former Arizona state senator Dr. Kelli Ward, said in a statement: “Donald Trump and Mike Pence recognize that we cannot win Arizona’s U. S. Senate seat in November with McCain, the ultimate establishment insider and champion of compromise, as our nominee. Only someone with real life experience outside politics can bring the bold, fresh, fearless new leadership it will take to win.” Earlier this week, Trump slammed McCain for his record on veterans and Ayotte for her lack of support for his presidential campaign.

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

43 Arianny Celeste Instagram Bikini Picture UFC star personality Arianny Celeste hit her fans with a bikini picture Thursday afternoon. The brunette bombshell dropped the bikini picture with the caption, “Playtime in #mexico #summer #tbt #picoftheday #bikini #fitness #girls.” (SLIDESHOW: UFC Star Arianny Celeste Is Nearly Naked For All Her Fans In These Pictures) A photo posted by Arianny Celeste UFC® (@ariannyceleste) on Aug 4, 2016 at 12:06pm PDT Celeste has risen to become one of the biggest stars on Instagram and that’s the type of progress that humanity needs. Follow David on Twitter and Facebook

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

44 Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced To 7 Years For 'Subversion’ Zhou Shifeng, the latest human rights lawyer to be tried by the No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, was sentenced to 7 years in prison for subversion today. This is the third trial this week in which a Chinese human rights lawyer has been sentenced to imprisonment for challenging the authority of the Chinese government. Zhou was the director of the Fengrui Law Firm and represented individuals who stood up to the ruling Chinese Communist Party. He worked alongside Zhai Yanmin and Hu Shigen, two human rights lawyers arrested and respectively sentenced to 3 and 7.5 years in prison for subversion earlier this week. China said that “die-hard” human rights lawyer Zhou was influenced by foreign anti-China forces. Zhou confessed , “They actively tried to draw me in and pushed me to impact the courts and China’s entire judicial system and to make trouble for the Chinese government.” He added that the goal of the foreign forces who supposedly manipulated him is “to overthrow the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.” After founding Fengrui Law Firm in 2007, Zhou represented members of the illegal Falun Gong movement, artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei, and news assistant Zhang Miao. He was arrested last year during a meeting with Zhang. Zhou also took the Chinese government to task over a scandal in which the government tried to cover up the production of poisoned baby formula. During Thursday’s trial, Zhou admitted to encouraging lawyers to highlight sensitive cases to defame the state, and even going so far as to hire protesters to disrupt normal Chinese legal processes. Some who testified against him said that Zhou intentionally worked to create confusion, stir up social instability, and rally against the Chinese judicial system, a system with a 99.9 percent conviction rate. Roseann Rife, the East Asia research director for Amnesty International , said that the wave of trials in Tianjin are “a political charade.” “Their fate was sealed before they stepped into the courtroom and there was no chance that they would ever receive a fair trial,” Rife continued. “The Chinese authorities appear intent on silencing anyone who raises legitimate questions about human rights and uses the legal system to seek redress.” “These cases lay bare China authorities’ shameless manipulation of the legal system to silence rule of law advocates and critics,” Sophie Richardson, the China director for Human Rights Watch , said. Zhou, Hu, and Zhai were held in detention for more than a year before trial, prevented from choosing their own defense lawyers, and their families were not allowed to attend their trials. Prior to Zhou’s trial, Huang Bin at Tianjin’s No. 1 Detention House explained that China considers the protection of defendants’ rights very important. Huang said that “better legal protection” for defendants is the reason for the relatively healthy condition of the defendants who have been tried this week. Rife argued, “The authorities are using vague legal provisions as a weapon to give their politically-motivated assault the veneer of legitimacy.” Another 14 political dissidents arrested in last year’s crackdown, including 10 facing state security charges, are still awaiting trial. Send tips to ryan@ dailycallernewsfoundation.org . Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

45 George Zimmerman Punched Yet Again George Zimmerman was punched in the face over the weekend by a man who took offense at his apparent “bragging” over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman fatally shot Martin in a March 2012 confrontation that occurred when Zimmerman followed the young man on his way home from a convenience store. Although Martin was unarmed, Zimmerman successfully argued that he killed Martin in self defense, as Martin had tackled him and was bashing his head against the ground. Zimmerman called the police in Sanford, Fla., to report a fight, according to local WFTV news. Zimmerman told police he was explaining to a group of people at a table that he had killed Martin in self defense when a man approached him, saying, “You’re bragging about that?” and then punched him in the face. But eyewitnesses who spoke with WFTV claim that Zimmerman’s attacker may have been quite justified in thinking he was bragging about the Treyvon Martin death. “I love your tattoos. My name is George Zimmerman, you know, that guy who killed Trayvon Martin?” Zimmerman said, according to the eyewitnesses. These witnesses say Zimmerman then produced an ID card to prove his identity. Zimmerman’s attacker was later arrested, and may face charges for the assault. It’s not the first time Zimmerman has had a violent altercation since he was acquitted of murdering Martin in 2013. In January 2015, Zimmerman was charged with aggravated assault after a domestic dispute (the charge was later dropped), and in May 2015, Zimmerman was hurt in a road rage incident, It’s also not the first time Zimmerman has allegedly taken a boastful attitude about killing Martin. In August 2015, he ridiculed President Barack Obama as an “ignorant baboon,” and when others threatened him, he quipped, “We all know how it ended for the last moron that hit me.” Send tips to [email protected] . Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

46 New Hampshire's Ayotte Drops Ten Points In New Poll Republicans in New Hampshire are trailing behind Democrats up and down the ticket, according to a Thursday poll published by local radio station WBUR. Sen. Kelly Ayotte experienced a 10-point drop in the recent poll, and got a low 42 percent approval rating. Current Gov. Maggie Hassan is running against Ayotte in the Senate race, and has a 50 percent approval rating. Ayotte earned 40 percent of the vote, and Hassan took the lead with 50 percent. There is considerable room to grow in the polls, with 7 percent saying they were unsure, and 2 percent of the vote saying they preferred a third-party candidate. Ayotte had 50 percent of the vote in a poll published at the end of June by the American Research Group. The incredible turnaround comes after the Republican National Convention, Trump’s comments against a military family , a baby, and the New Hampshire senator herself. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton beat Republican nominee Donald Trump by 15 points, 47 to 32 percent in the poll. Three percent voted for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and 2 percent supported Green Party candidate Jill Stein. The most troubling statistic to Republicans was 60 percent of voters said Trump is not qualified to be president. Clinton’s numbers were still high at 48 percent, but much lower than Trump’s. Perhaps the best building block for Republicans in New Hampshire is the fact that 81 percent of likely voters responded they felt the world is more dangerous than it was before Obama was president. Trump typically does better in the polls when foreign policy is a key issue in the race, and Ayotte’s military record could enable her to rise amid that sentiment. Follow Phillip On Twitter Have a Tip? Let us Know Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

47 Black And Latino Pastors Form Coalition To Stop DeBlasio New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has seen better days. A group of influential black and Latino pastors organized by the campaign manager for former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Brad Tusk, announced Thursday an effort to stop de Blasio from winning re-election, DNA Info reports. “We are looking for another option,” said the Rev. Johnnie Green, president of Mobilizing Preachers and Communities and pastor of Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem. “No one is challenging him. No one is talking about the investigations.” Known as NYC Deserves Better , the coalition organized by Tusk has taken shots at de Blasio in the past and is looking for a credible candidate to challenge the mayor as de Blasio and his office face several investigations by state and federal authorities. “This hits him in his own backyard. We’re talking here about hundreds of black clergy, ministers, people who are really of the community,” Tusk said. “I would imagine Mayor de Blasio is worried about what happened today and if he’s not, he should be.” Although de Blasio has strong support among minority voters in the city, a recent Quinnipiac poll shows that voters disapprove of the job he is doing by 51 to 42 percent. They also disapprove of the way de Blasio is handling corruption by 56 percent to 28 percent. Follow Kerry on Twitter

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

48 Where Are Michael Jackson's Kids Now? Paris, Prince And Blanket Michael Jackson died seven years ago from acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication while at his Los Angeles home. When he died, he left behind his three children — Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson. Blanket, Paris and Prince Jackson. (Photo: Getty Images) This is what they are doing now. (Photo: Splash News) Prince recently started his own Los Angeles-based production company named King’s Son. He is currently making his first music video. He is also studying at Loyola Marymount University. (Photo: Getty Images) Paris and Blanket Jackson both live with their grandmother, Katherine Jackson, now. Earlier this year, Paris had her father’s handwriting tattooed on her forearm. “To everyone else he was the King of Pop,” she said about the tattoo. “To me, well, he was the king of my heart.” A photo posted by Paris-Michael K. Jackson (@parisjackson) on May 23, 2016 at 4:28pm PDT (Photo: Getty Images) Blanket Jackson was only seven years old when his father died. He goes to the Buckley School in Los Angeles and practices martial arts as a hobby. (RELATED: Photos Of Amanda Knox Just Surfaced — See What The Accused Murderer Looks Like Now) “The siblings all remain close,” a family source told People magazine recently. “Prince is always coming home to visit his grandmother.” (Photo: Mohamed Hadid via Getty Images)

2016-08-05 04:18 Entertainment Editor dailycaller.com

49 Obama: Trump Has To Get Security Briefings [VIDEO] During his Thursday press conference, President Barack Obama stated that he is not worried about Donald Trump receiving classified security briefings. “As far as Mr. Trump is concerned, we are going to go by both tradition and the law,” Obama stated. “If somebody is the nominee, the Republican nominee for president, they need to get a security briefing.” (VIDEO: Obama — Trump Is ‘Unfit’ To Be President) Obama explained that the briefings are a necessity, “so that if they were to win, they are not starting from scratch in terms of being prepared for this office.” President Barack Obama speaks to reporters at the Pentagon (Getty Images) “I’m not going to go into details of the nature of the secure briefings that both candidates receive,” he added. “What I will say is that they have been told these are classified briefings, and if they want to be president, they have to start acting like a president.” (VIDEO: Trump Calls For Barring Hillary From Receiving Intelligence Briefings) “That means being able to receive these briefings and not spread them around. I think I’ve said enough on that.” Follow Datoc on Twitter and Facebook

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

50 50 Obama Admin Reopens Research On Human- Animal Hybrids The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is preparing to end a year-old ban on publicly-funded scientific research into human-animal hybrids, paving the way for scientists to create new, fascinating, and potentially horrifying specimens. The proposed rules would allow scientists to receive federal funds for the creation of chimeras, embryos that use human stem cells to combine human and animal traits. The NIH originally placed a moratorium on funding such research in September 2015, citing potential ethical concerns with the research. Now, the agency says it is implementing various regulatory controls to avoid major potential transgressions. The stakes are potentially quite high. For instance, some scientists and ethicists have raised the possibility that chimera research could result in animals that possess substantially human brains, or animals that have human sperm and eggs and could therefore create human offspring when breeding. A poll released last week by Pew Research indicated that Americans are currently more worried than enthusiastic about using gene editing to create modified humans. But many scientists have still been ardent advocates for chimeras, arguing they could help cure human diseases or provide other major scientific advancements. For instance, some scientists are hoping to grow human organs in pigs , in the hopes of providing transplants. To avoid any severe consequences, the NIH is proposing several new rules. For instance, the new rules would very strictly limit how human cells may be combined with non-human primate cells, due to those animals’ close genetic proximity to humans. Certain chimeras, such as those giving animals human brain cells or sperm cells, would have to obtain approval from a special committee to avoid unwanted developments. For instance, animals with human sex cells would have to be kept from breeding. “At the end of the day, we want to make sure this research progresses because its very important to our understanding of disease,” NIH associate science policy director Carrie Wolinetz told NPR . Send tips to [email protected] . Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

51 Arrested ISIS Sympathizer Claims Fellow Militants In Mexico Erick Jamal Hendricks of Charlotte, N. C., was arrested Thursday in Ohio for providing material support to ISIS. A Department of Justice press release stated that Hendricks tried to recruit and train people in the United States to commit terrorist acts. “Hendricks allegedly told another person that his goal was to create a sleeper cell to be trained and housed at a secure compound that would conduct attacks in the United States. He mentioned that potential targets included military members whose information had been released by ISIL and the woman who organized the Draw Prophet Mohammad contest,” the DOJ press release said. Conservative activist Pamela Geller was the organizer of the Muhammad drawing contest. In June 2015, another unnamed individual was arrested in Ohio after attempting to buy an AK-47 from an undercover law enforcement agent. This individual had pledged allegiance to ISIS over social media. Hendricks had contacted him earlier in 2015 and said he “needed” to “get brothers to train together.” Hendricks “claimed to have 10 members signed up for his group.” The DOJ press release stated that Hendricks said, “there were several ‘brothers’ located in Texas and Mexico.” Hendricks sought to have these “brothers” meet “face to face.” “[The arrested unnamed individual] allegedly believed that Hendricks and the ‘brothers in Texas and Mexico’ may have been responsible for a thwarted terrorist attack in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015,” the DOJ press release stated. The two men responsible for the Garland attack were living in Arizona at the time. The DOJ statement said that Hendricks allegedly contacted the Garland shooters over social media weeks before their attack. He allegedly also told an undercover FBI agent to go to the Garland drawing event. Hendricks told the undercover officer, “If you see that pig (meaning the organizer of the contest) make your ‘voice’ heard against her.” It is unclear whether this undercover agent was present in Garland during the attack.

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

52 Trump Is Trailing In Colorado The prospect of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump winning critical battleground states like Colorado is growing more difficult, according to a number of political experts. The candidate currently trails Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by 8 points in the Centennial State, and many are saying the gap will only grow larger. Clinton is campaigning in Denver, Colo., before she travels to Nevada for her next campaign stop. “Colorado has a significant and growing Latino population, and Trump has done everything he possibly can to draw Latino voters into the waiting arms of Democrats,” Republican pollster Whit Ayres told Politico. GOP strategist David Flaherty said that attracting the Hispanic vote could be a major issue for the candidate, telling The New York Times, “Trump’s a walking get-out-the-vote billboard.” The paper reports Clinton is so confident in a win, she has started pulling television ads to allocate her resources elsewhere. But the GOP hasn’t given up hope in the swing state just yet. Trump’s running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence spent Wednesday in Colorado Springs at a campaign rally. “If you can bring 100,000 voters in Colorado who feel disaffected by both political parties, a candidate like Trump who promises to pull down the pillars might really resonate,” former state Republican Party Chairman Ryan Call told The New York Times. Follow Juliegrace Brufke on Twitter Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

53 'Confidence Game' Author Maria Konnikova: Trump Is A Con Artist A few months ago, New York Times bestselling author of “ The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It…Every Time” , Maria Konnikova, appeared on “Real Time With Bill Maher.” An expert in study of con artistry, when asked whether Trump was a con artist, she was careful to be guarded and avoided giving a direct answer. However, in a podcast conversation today with Matt Lewis, she confidently admitted that the past few months provided evidence which convinced her that, “not only is [Trump] using the techniques of con artists, but he probably is a con artist.” “I am seeing a lot of the traits that are almost pathological that you see in people who…are con artists who we know have defrauded,” said Konnikova , who is a regular columnist for The New Yorker where she focuses on the intersections of psychology and culture. She was also the former author of the “Literally Psyched” column for Scientific American and is a Harvard graduate who studied psychology, creative writing, and government, and received her Ph. D. in Psychology from Columbia University. Psychopathy is just one of the three factors that contribute to the ‘dark triad’ of deception in a con artists arsenal. According to Konnikova, psychopaths do not process emotion in the same way that the majority of the public does and this enables them to avoid sympathizing with their victims. (Stream the full podcast with Maria Konnikova here to learn more about the art of the con, buy the book here and download the latest from Matt Lewis and the News on iTunes. ) The second leg of the triad is narcissism, which creates a sense of entitlement in those hoping to deceive someone for their own benefit. Konnikova used the example of Ferdinand Waldo Demara, known as ‘the great imposter’ who impersonated 50 people over 40 years. A high school drop-out, Demara once impersonated a surgeon and actually operated on people. “Someone like Demara, you steal M. D. credentials because you say ‘I’m a better doctor, I deserve it more than those people who went to med school, why am I going to go to med school? I should just take the degree.” The final leg of the triad is Machiavellianism, which is a “con artist’s bread and butter, it’s the art of persuasion without people realizing that you are persuading them or manipulating them,” she said. The combination of these three factors contributes to con artists success because they gain their victims’ trust and can manipulate them without any sense of guilt. And victims often fall for it because of this trust. “We are hardwired to trust [rather] than be skeptical because most people are not out to get you,” concluded Konnikova. “What long cons rely on is that we’re emotional about the people we like, about the people we trust…we feel some sort of emotional connection and we dismiss red flags…because the moment where we’re emotionally invested, we are no longer logical, we are no longer looking objectively, we are subjective…and so you dismiss the evidence.” Konnikova believes that this is exactly what is happening to those traveling with tickets on the Trump Train. Victims of con artists tend to be emotionally vulnerable because they are experiencing moments of change and transition—much like the shifting landscape of America that is happening now. “If you look at the types of people to whom Trump appeals, they are typical victims…He found his marks and he is actually reeling them in the way a very good con artist would,” Konnikova declared. “Once you’re hooked, once the con artist has you…basically nothing anyone else can say can convince you are being conned because you become a true believer,” she said. “In order to acknowledge that you are being conned, you have to acknowledge that you are the type of person who could be conned, that you didn’t see it and that you have been taken along for a ride by a con artist.” “Most people will say ‘of course I’m smart, of course I’m a good judge of character…I’m not someone who is easily taken in’…and to say ‘I’ve been taken in by a con artist’…that really hurts at that core self…. So no matter what evidence you put before them, their ego, they clamp down and protect themselves.” The two also discussed that there is a very fine line of intention that divides true con artists from those who may manipulate for the greater good. They also chatted about other famous con artists, including Frank Abagnale, the similarities between con artists and pick-up artists and what drives the desire to deceive. Stream the full podcast with Maria Konnikova here, buy her book here and download the latest from Matt Lewis & The News on iTunes.

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

54 Wasserman Schultz To Debate Primary Challenger Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz must now fight for her congressional seat after being forced out of her DNC post in the wake of the e- mail hack scandal. After months of avoiding her primary candidate Tim Canova’s challenge to debate, Wasserman Schultz agreed to do so Thursday before the August 30 primary. Former Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called for Wassermann Schultz’s resignation when he saw the DNC favoring Hillary Clinton for the party’s nomination, endorsed Canova and helped him raise money against the then-powerful DNC chair. Cannova has been calling for debates to no avail since early April and even ran TV clips of Wasserman Schultz talking about the importance of debates, followed by clips of her evading the question of debating Canova when asked repeatedly by the press and her constituents. On the upside for the embattled incumbent, she still leads her challenger by eight points in a poll released on August 1. According to The Hill , Wasserman Schultz has a 52 percent favorability rating and a 35 percent unfavorability rating in her district. In a statement on Wasserman Schultz’s agreement that she would debate him, Cannova said: “I was happy to hear news that Debbie Wasserman Schultz says that she will debate me. I will believe it when I see it. Four months ago, I proposed a series of six debates to cover a wide range of issues. Wasserman Schultz has dodged debates for four months and she’s been dodging her own constituents for even longer.” Cannova explained, “I believe she owes the residents of Florida’s 23rd Congressional district an accounting for her record of absenteeism and inaction in Congress and the circumstances of her resigning in disgrace from the Democratic National Committee. While I welcome this news, I have always maintained that there must be a series of debates to discuss the range of issues of importance to South Florida, including the economy, campaign finance and political reform, immigration, criminal justice reform and the war on drugs, environmental issues, and foreign policy and national security.” Follow Kerry on Twitter

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

55 DOJ Had 'Powerful Case' To Charge IRS Targeters Recently released FBI interviews show the Department of Justice’s failure to prosecute the Tea Party-targeting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials was “patently ridiculous,” Rep. Jim Jordan said. IRS officials across the chain of command knew for years that it was “extraordinarily inappropriate and dangerous” to send Tea Party tax exemption applications into a “black hole,” FBI interviews recently released by Judicial watch show. (RELATED: New FBI Docs Show IRS Tea Party Applications To ‘Black Hole’) IRS officials “suggested there was nothing unusual going on … but they stopped granting the tax exempt status to most conservative outlets,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “There’s a powerful case,” he continued. “There were false statements made under oath.” Then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Schulman, for example, resigned soon after he denied the targeting before a congressional committee and just before the scandal came to light. One IRS official – whose name was redacted – saw the internal document that ordered the targeting and “his impression was that they should not be using the label ‘Tea Party,’” FBI interviews show. The FBI also didn’t catch the IRS official who wrote that document. “It seems liked an incurious pro forma investigation,” Fitton said. (RELATED: Real Power Behind IRS Conservative Targeting Scandal Still A Mystery) One tax exempt case in March or April 2011 “seemed to be pulled because of the applicant’s political affiliation and screening is not supposed to occur that way,” an unidentified IRS senior tax law specialist noted. “When organizations’ applications are pulled, you have to stay away from their political affiliations and your own.” “She has been taught from day one by her manager that you need to avoid personal views and look at legal criteria,” FBI documents show. “She wanted to alert the managers about the way the cases were being pulled.” The issue was passed along from their from one redacted official to another before reaching senior IRS manager Lois Lerner by June or July 2011. (RELATED: IRS Colleagues Called Lois Lerner ‘Volatile’) Lerner went “ballistic” and “found it extraordinarily inappropriate and dangerous to use names as a way to refer to and select cases,” FBI documents show. She ordered the practice to stop, but the discrimination continued until after President Barack Obama’s successful 2012 reelection campaign. The FBI “documents show just how patently ridiculous it is that the Obama Justice Department did not pursue charges against Lois Lerner for her actions at the IRS,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman and Ohio Republican Jordan told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “This is exactly why so many Americans feel there are two sets of rules in this country – one for ‘we, the people’ and one for the politically connected. The American people deserve justice from their Justice Department.” Lerner could “apologize for under-managing,” then-IRS Commissioner Steven Miller said in an email obtained by the FBI. “This was a joke, but it was how Miller felt about what Lerner did during the timeframe of these cases,” documents show. “He felt the issue was with how the cases were managed, not how they were worked.” Similarly, top IRS official Nikole Flax “believes Lerner under-managed because cases should not sit for two years without a system where a red flag goes up when cases sit for so long,” documents show. “Also, Lerner should have raised the issue earlier.” Another senior IRS official, Nancy Marks, added: “there was a lack of management oversight on these cases.” Lerner wasn’t fired or prosecuted for allowing the discrimination to continue, but rather retired with her pension and raked in a $129,300 bonus. “But poor management is not a crime ,” Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik said, CNN reported. Regardless, Miller and Lerner both initially blamed “low-level employees” for the targeting, FBI documents show. Miller, in fact, called the Cincinnati IRS officials who handled the tax exemption cases “maroons” – his humorous way of saying “morons.” Meanwhile, “Cincinnati had asked for help from DC repeatedly and not received it for over two years …” Marks told Miller in May 2012, FBI documents show. Neither the IRS nor the FBI returned requests for comment. Follow Ethan on Twitter Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

2016-08-05 04:18 dailycaller.com

56 S Korea military gives K-pop band anti- smoking mission South Korea's defence ministry has enlisted the help of a K-pop girl band to encourage soldiers to quit smoking. Eight-piece group Lovelyz are now anti-smoking ambassadors for the military, which is on a drive to slash smoking rates in its ranks by 30%, the Korea Herald's K- pop site reports. The women will feature on calendars which will hang in barracks next year, and they'll be getting their own talk show on a military TV channel to spread the message, too. Soldiers who manage to kick the habit will be invited on to the programme for a chat, the report says. There's an extra bonus for those at the army's Nonsan training centre, where Lovelyz will act as personal K-pop counsellors, the widely read Allkpop website says. And for the unit which sees the most soldiers quit smoking, the group will put on a special end-of-year show to celebrate. Recruiting pop stars is the defence's ministry's latest tactic in its campaign to cut tobacco use. In May, it announced a range of rewards for soldiers who quit smoking, from cash prizes to leisure equipment for barracks. The ministry says around 40% of soldiers smoke, and many light up more often after joining the military. According to the OECD, male smoking rates in South Korea are amongst the highest in the developed world. Next story: Norway party proposes pest-hunting 'slug hour' Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter .

2016-08-05 04:14 By News www.bbc.co.uk

57 How affordable is rent in your area? People spend more than a third of their disposable income on rent across large parts of England, a BBC investigation has found. Analysis shows the average rent of a one-bedroom property in almost half of all districts, boroughs and cities would cost more than 30% of the median take-home salary for the area. The problem is most acute in London and the South East. The government said it was committed to building more affordable homes. BBC England's data unit analysed the average rents for different types of property in each local authority area and the median weekly wage for those areas, using figures published by the Office for National Statistics. According to Shelter and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, spending more than a third of your disposable income on rent or a mortgage means you may not be able to afford other basic needs. Based on average rents and median weekly wages, our investigation found: Dan Wilson Craw, a policy manager at Generation Rent, which campaigns for affordable housing, said: "Across London and the South East, the only option for average earners is to squeeze themselves into ever more crowded flat shares. "This might work for some, but it's a completely unsustainable situation for anyone who wants to settle down. Unless rents start coming down, the capital and its hinterland will start losing workers and that will weaken the national economy. " Kerry Taylor works as a teaching assistant in a special school in Stratford, earning about £350 a week in take-home pay. She pays £825 a month to rent a room in a shared house in Lambeth, south London, where she has her own bathroom and kitchen. She said: "I would like to get on the housing ladder but I have resigned myself to the fact that working in social care isn't going to get you the right salary, let alone give you the chance to save up for anything. "I would love to own a home so that no one can kick me out, as I now have to leave my house as the landlady wants to sell. "I've lived in Manchester, Edinburgh and my home town in Yorkshire but I've never been happier and more comfortable than in London. This is really important to me and I have created a great network of friends so the idea of moving and starting again somewhere else, as I've done twice before, is too exhausting to think about. "I hope it doesn't come to having to leave but I suppose I can't rule it out completely if it gets that desperate. " Freelance musician and composer Matt Winkworth has been renting houses around Oxford for 10 years, but to gain security he has decided to buy a narrow boat, which he intends to live in. The 31 year old said: "Buying a boat is something that I've been thinking about doing for a long time. "I've thought about getting a mortgage, but I would have to move out of the area that I work [in], it's impossible to buy anywhere in the South East. "[Living in the boat] will be the first time I have lived on my own. " Sophie Mogridge moved to Oxford last year and lives in a three-bedroom house with two friends. The trainee teacher has resigned herself to the fact that she can no longer live in the city, which is considered the most unaffordable place to live in Britain. She spends £515 a month on rent but, when bills are taken into account, she spends half her £18,000-a-year income on accommodation. The 23-year-old said: "My rent is incredibly high but my salary isn't as high. "That means I'm not able to do all the social things that all my friends [outside of Oxford] can do. "I'm actually moving to Banbury so I can afford to enjoy life. " Our figures showed 142 out of 324 areas where the average rent for a one bedroom property was higher than 30% of take-home wage. None were in the north of the country except Manchester, Salford and York. Copeland in Cumbria seems to have that magic mix of cheap rents and high wages. However, the data does not tell the full story. Copeland is home to the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing and nuclear decommissioning site. There are also proposals for a new nuclear power station, the Moorside project, to the north of the current Sellafield site. The energy industry in Copeland also includes the Walney Wind Farm offshore. Lynne Atkinson, of Cumbrian lettings agency Grisdales, said: "Nuclear power does skew the figures when it comes to wages as there are some very well-paid jobs in the area. "It is good value for money renting in Copeland and the market is very strong. It is cheaper than other areas in the North West, such as the Lakes. There has also been a lot of buy to let investment. " Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: "Our chronic housing shortage means private renting is no longer a stepping stone for people starting out in life - it's where a quarter of families have to live. "And with sky high rents eating up a huge chunk of people's monthly income, it's sadly no surprise that at Shelter we're hearing from growing numbers of families who are struggling just to cover the cost of the basics, and keep a roof over their heads. " Explore the full dataset here Henry Gregg, assistant director of communications and campaigns at the National Housing Federation said: "These figures provide yet more evidence of how seriously unaffordable renting is in this country. Sky-high rents mean unstable and uncertain living situations are becoming the norm. " Our investigation used the median average, which describes the middle value in a set. The median monthly take home pay in England is about £1,833, after tax and national insurance contributions. That means rent should take up no more than £550. The England average price of a room in a house is £382, while a one-bedroom property costs £694. A Department of Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "More than 300,000 people have been helped in homeownership through government-backed schemes since 2010, while almost 900,000 more homes have been delivered since the end of 2009. "But we know there is more to do. That's why we've doubled the housing budget, including investing £8bn in an extra 400,000 quality affordable homes to rent and buy. "We're also extending shared ownership, giving more people the chance to buy a home with a deposit of as little as £1,500. " Reporting team: Pete Sherlock, Daniel Wainwright, Paul Bradshaw

2016-08-05 04:19 www.bbc.co.uk

58 Foster carers 'poached with golden hellos' Large private foster agencies are offering cash incentives to recruit foster carers working for English local authorities - and then charging more for the service, councils say. Some agencies pay "golden hellos" of around £3,000, but then charge councils more to care for the same child. The Association of Directors of Children's Services says the practice is immoral and should be banned. Foster agencies question the way in which councils cost their own services. The National Association of Foster Providers also says transfers of foster carers to agencies from local authority employment may happen for reasons to do with the needs of the child. Source: ADCS A recent independent review of residential care by government adviser Sir Martin Narey said that in 2014-15, eight commercial fostering agencies made around £41m in profit. The president of ADCS, Dave Hill, said that companies should not be profiteering from children in care and that they objected very strongly to "golden hellos". "Local authorities are very committed to recruiting, training and supporting foster carers and that costs a lot of money. "Then these agencies come along with a golden hello, they take our foster carers and we're massively out of pocket. "We think that's immoral and wrong and we think it should be stopped with immediate effect. " Mr Hill said that when such transfers happen, the authority loses the cost of an assessment for a child and support and then has to pay around double the cost for the placement of the same child. And yet, he says, the foster carer does not get any extra money for looking after the child. "We think those resources ought to be spent directly on the care of children in the care system and other children in our area," he added. "This is simply just taking that money away from the needs of local children and we think that is wrong. " Jan Hester has fostered nearly 50 children during her 11 years as a foster carer for Essex County Council and has seven children of her own. With a degree in therapeutic fostering, Jan now specialises in caring for children from the most traumatic backgrounds. She has always taken her role as a mum very seriously and regards fostering as a vocation rather than as a means of making money - foster carers are not paid an hourly minimum wage, she says. She has been approached by independent fostering agencies but has always turned them down though she says she understands why some carers might be tempted. "I don't agree with it. The amount of work that goes into getting someone approved... takes months, hours and hours of social workers' time to get you through that process... and then to be poached and go to another agency. " Jan fears some agencies might not offer the same level of support to carers as local authorities. "I also know lots of foster carers that now attend the foster carer support groups that I attend that have come from those agencies, because they felt unsupported and that they felt there was more training and more support with the local authority... "If you're unsupported, ultimately it's the children that are going to suffer because these can be really traumatised children that need lots of support... "If you don't get the same support you can't cope as a foster carer when those children are displaying really complex behaviours. You end up with them being moved on and being moved and moved and ultimately the child suffers. " Harvey Gallagher, the chief executive of the Nationwide Association of Fostering Providers, said councils' calculations of their costs for fostering did not include the full total of back office and support costs. He said the NAFP had looked in detail at the way a small number of local authorities cost their own in-house fostering services and said they were based on "seemingly arbitrary assumptions". "Little account" is taken of the differing needs of children when looking at costs, he said, adding that those placed with independent foster providers often have greater needs and therefore looking after them is more expensive. Children and Families Minister Edward Timpson said: "As someone whose own family fostered for many years, I greatly value the vital contribution that foster carers make to children's lives and am committed to ensuring they receive the support they need. "That's why, following the recommendation made in the independent review by Sir Martin Narey, we are launching a national stocktake of fostering to better understand current provision - including looking at the role fostering agencies play. "Alongside this we have supported the testing of new and innovative models of foster care through the £200m Children's Social Care Innovation Programme, including better ways to support foster carers. " The revelation comes amid a shortage of foster carers. It is thought that at least 9,000 new fostering families are needed to look after the record number of children in care in England.

2016-08-05 04:19 By India www.bbc.co.uk

59 Meet the “World’s Biggest Asshole” in this organ donation PSA Nonprofit Donate Life has launched an edgy campaign that it hopes will catch the attention of young people and make them realize that if the world’s biggest asshole can donate his organs, then anyone can. The video features actor Thomas Jane as the character Coleman F. Sweeney, aka the “World’s Biggest Asshole.” Voiced by actor Will Arnett, the film walks viewers through a day in the life of Sweeney as he does signature “asshole” things, like beep at little old ladies who are trying to cross the street and steal candy out of children’s trick-or-treat buckets. After Sweeney dies of a brain aneurysm while arguing with a waitress over whether or not extra fries should be included with his early bird breakfast, the waitress picks up his wallet and finds his driver’s license, which states that he is a registered organ donor. “That was the day when Coleman went from asshole to hero,” Arnett states. Viewers then see all of the people who went on to benefit from his organs, everyone from a father who needed a liver to a young teacher who received Sweeney’s heart. Created by The Martin Agency and directed by Furlined’s Speck and Gordon , the campaign was created to try and get millennials to sign up for organ donation since Donate Life has seen a drop-off over the past few years. According to Donate Life, 120,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ donation in the US right now, yet one person can help save and heal more than 50 lives through organ, eye and tissue donation. The campaign is running online and out-of-home & also features a mural (see below):

2016-08-05 05:04 www.thedrum.com

60 Random acts of music: Why politics and music rarely connect? In Tena Clark’s pointed opinion, there has never been a good combination of political campaign-meets- music theme. Even when Bill Clinton used Fleetwood Mac’s infectious “Don’t Stop” during his winning campaign , Clark called it “the best of the worst.” Clark should know. The founder, CEO and CCO of DMI Music has spent a lifetime in the music world since moving to LA from Mississippi in 1982. While she recently moved to Atlanta to open new DMI offices there, Clark, who says she lives, eats and breathes politics, has seen numerous failures trying to pair politics and music. Most are well documented, including Bruce Springsteen’s chiding of Reagan, Dole and Buchanan over the (mis)use of “Born in the U. S. A.” and Survivor’s lawsuit against Newt Gingrich for “Eye of the Tiger.” During the latest campaign cycle, the Dropkick Murphys famously tweeted about Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, “@GovWalker please stop using our music in any way…we literally hate you!!! Love, Dropkick Murphys. " So why is it so difficult for politicians to find that elusive song that speaks volumes for their campaigns? “I don't think there's any time it's ever been done right,” said Clark, getting right to the point. She thinks that the current political state is no different, citing Donald Trump’s bizarre mash-ups as evidence, including his ill-advised pick of R. E. M.’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” leading the band’s Mike Mills to call him the “Orange Clown.” Trump has also been asked to cease and desist from Queen, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Adele and the estates of Luciano Pavarotti and George Harrison, to name a few. “I think those have been awful mashups. Obviously, it goes along with the personality. I just cringe at the RNC when different pieces would come on — I feel like either there is no one in charge of choosing these random acts of music or either the candidates themselves are showing their own personality, which is scary too,” she mused. Clark and DMI are adept at pairing music with brands, having licensed millions of pieces of music, such as the United Airlines campaign that successfully used Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” as a calling card, so she sees ways that politicians can use music to their advantages, but sadly none do well. “Our main objective is to be able to actually emotionally connect with that brands consumer with music because there's not greater way to create loyalty than through emotion, and no greater way to create emotion than through music,” she said. The thing with politicians is, none to date has made an emotional connection. She uses Katy Perry’s involvement in the Hillary Clinton campaign as an example. “I'm glad Katy Perry is out there for her. I'm glad that she's involved,” said Clark, but she said the song that was chosen missed the mark. She also mentioned Elizabeth Banks' star-studded video of an a cappella cover of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song, " a song that she said is big but wasn't the right choice for a politician. “They were using the song, ‘Fight Song.’ I thought that was so wrong on so many levels because that song, obviously it was a big song, but I've heard that song performed at every non-profit imaginable. It's been overused," she said. “I think when a politician or a brand uses an existing song you have good and bad baggage. I think that you have to be very careful. I think what they're missing in political campaigns is they're not taking the music seriously. It's looked at as entertainment.” Clark noted that politicians are a brand, and that they need to approach the musical end of their campaigns as that brand and put some care into their choices. “They're no different than Coca-Cola, McDonald's, or whatever. They're a brand. They're trying to connect with their constituents. They're trying to connect with other voters. They're trying to connect in anyway they can. Like I said before, they have to connect emotionally. They don't look at it that way,” she stated, again pointing to the Clinton campaign about almost hitting the mark, but not quite. “Now she has a song that's been written called ‘Stronger Together,’ which is her campaign slogan. That was done by Jessica Sanchez. I have mixed feelings about it. I don't think it’s a bad song. Do I think it's a special song? Not for my ears. It sounds like pretty much every pop song. Did it hit the mark? To me, it did not hit the mark because if you look at the song in the young pop genre, that's fine if you're just trying to get and resonate with the young voter, but that's not the case.” Clark said that it doesn’t hit the target because, here, you have a candidate in her 60s trying to connect through a pop song. Still, she lauds the effort. “Kudos to them. I'm glad they did an original song. That I am. I think that's the right thing to do every single time. I really do because you don't have the pre-existing baggage there,” she said. “What I feel like they missed is, I feel like they could have served a lot of masters with the right song and the right melody. Something that would resonate, that wasn't gong to alienate the younger demographic, but also could be relatable to your 40s, 50s, and 60- year-olds. You can hit that mark. To me, they did not. It's a very young pop sounding song. To me, I don't find the emotion in it. I find it didn't hit the emotional mark, it didn't hit the connection mark, but it's better than having an existing song.” For the Trump campaign, on a theoretical basis, her advice would be to try to connect rather than chest thump. “I would say that on the playlist you need music that makes you seem accessible. You need music that makes you seem you have a heart, you have a heartbeat. You can connect. Things that people like, that make them feel good. Not songs that seem like beating your chest, like ‘We Are the Champions.’ Not stuff that's in your face because what you're trying to do is you're trying to get over those other voters that think you're the devil incarnate, right?” The only way Clark feels that politicians can really connect is if they put some thought beyond just a song. It’s something that DMI does on a daily basis. “It is literally putting some strategy in place. We do a deep dive into marketing objectives, demographics, aspirational demographics, and just who that consumer is — where they live, work, and play.” From there, DMI creates a soundtrack that truly fits. It’s a cue that she thinks politicians should follow in this plugged-in world. “I think the song should be uplifting. They should be great melodies, some that are emotional, some that are just great feeling, and uplifting and makes you want to dance, makes you feel good, but also gives you a peek into who (the candidate) is,” she said. “I think all of us now, in this day and age, we walk around with our own soundtrack because everybody pretends to be an expert in curation, whether they are or not. Now more than ever, when a person comes out or a brand comes out with music they look at that, ‘Oh, that's who that person is. That's who that candidate is.’ I don't think Hillary is a poppy candidate. I think that she is a woman who is strong and who has made a huge impact with women around the world, and she has spent her life doing that. It needs to be about strength, and trudging forward, and making change.” While Clark may be disappointed that Hillary hasn’t hit a home run with her music, she knows one thing for sure. “She’s doing it better than Trump!”

2016-08-05 05:04 www.thedrum.com

61 ‘Strive for excellence over perfection’: Exceptional Women Out West podcast featuring Ginny Golden, group creative director, AKQA Portland Sometimes, those blazing trails don’t necessarily seek the spotlight. The quest and passion of doing good work and the right things comes first. Ginny Golden, group creative director at AKQA in Portland, is in the midst of an undoubtedly stellar career — with scads of well-deserved recognition from the likes of Cannes, ANDY’s, The One Show and more — but the foundation laid at American University speaks volumes about treading paths anew. At American, Golden created her own degree, Multimedia Design and Development, combining her love of all things artistic and digital and setting her up for her first internship at AKQA in Washington DC. The framework built created the degree program at American that still exists to this day and produces outstanding talent. Golden places a great premium on humanity and community — in both her travels and work. Her leadership with New Avenues For Youth in Portland, in launching a fashion brand for homeless youth , underscores her commitment to the city, a place she has called home since 2011. She also empathizes with the vulnerability creatives feel about their work — and shares her experiences and wisdom, showing how confidence and the ability to sell ones work and talent can be transformative. To Golden, she feels a responsibility to help lead and to also put meaningful work out in to the world — and it’s all about excellence instead of perfection. Eclectically curious, Golden on the edge of what’s next in the industry, creativity and technology and her next discoveries could very well unearth new trails for everyone to explore together. Exceptional Women Out West is a podcast that highlights and celebrates both the great achievement, lives and POV of amazing women in the Western US and Canada. Listen to previous episodes here. If you would like to nominate women out west to be part of the show, please contact North America Editor at Large, Doug Zanger.

2016-08-05 05:04 www.thedrum.com

62 DC Thomson on why the time’s right to open its inventory directly to agencies and advertisers DC Thomson is the latest publisher to offer automated guaranteed inventory to agencies and advertisers, a move it claims takes it closer to a “utopia” of quality and quantity as opposed to relying on high volume, low yield ad inventory. The publisher of The Beano has brought on board Ad Eye to facilitate the guarantee that will effectively streamline the RFP method for automated trading. Instead of having to manually plan and fulfill a sale via emails, phone calls, etc., the process for both buyer and seller is automated through the Ad Eye’s platform'. This means publishers get better control over what is sold plus at the same time secure up front commitments to both price and an amount of inventory at a fixed rate. Despite its promise, automated guaranteed has not been a unanimous hit with publishers, with many concerned for its potential to hurt their yields. While more efficient, the workflow process squeezes the margins publishers could make from ad placements by allowing large amounts of media to be bought at cheaper rates on a forward basis. “It’s too early for us to say whether this is the future,” conceded Mike Dee, digital sales manager at DC Thomson. Publishers like City AM have already seen uplifts of seven times in revenue off the back of using automated guaranteed, with the newspaper claiming the process has helped it take back control of its inventory and data. “The digital market evolves so rapidly - but programmatic guarantee is definitely what happens next,” continued Dee. “Our focus on driving digital growth means we need to understand and scrutinise what is happening with our inventory; ad yield has never been more important. The Ad Eye platform offers us complete visibility and control over the algorithmic side of our sales force, allowing us to see who is buying our ads and how much they’re paying for them. In CPM terms, we’re pushing towards a utopia of quality and quantity as opposed to relying on high volume, low yield ad inventory.” Offering automated guaranteed could also benefit those DC Thomson advertisers who have a certain portion of buys that are recurring and so are relatively standardised. “Yes, this is true,” explained Ad Eye’s managing director Kate Morgan, who added it has a ‘”re-buy’ feature that allows advertisers to re-buy their campaigns at the click of a button”. It is still relatively early days for the process and at the moment it sits somewhere between agency trading desks and agencies. Agency trading desks can do more complex buys through the system and also have more insight into what is available from publishers in terms of inventory and data.

2016-08-05 05:03 www.thedrum.com

63 Zika vaccines show early promise Three different ways of designing a vaccine have been shown to be completely protective against the Zika virus. Scientists found all three offered protection in tests on rhesus monkeys. Zika has been deemed a public health emergency, because it can cause serious birth defects. Teams around the world are working to design a vaccine that can be given to people, but it is likely to be years before any is ready for widespread use. More than 60 countries and territories now have continuing transmission of Zika, which is carried by mosquitoes. Read more here about the Zika outbreak The scientists in this latest study used three different approaches often used in vaccine development - one was an inactive, and therefore harmless, replica of the virus and two others used parts of the Zika virus's genetic code. All three offered complete protection and none were linked to major side- effects. The US scientists, including experts from the military, say their results mark a further promising step forward in the search for a jab against the Zika virus. The next step will be early trials, possibly later this year, to establish that the vaccine is safe and effective in humans. But British experts were clear that any of the vaccines would take time to develop. Dr Ed Wright, senior lecturer and virologist at the University of Westminster, said: "All of the vaccines currently under development are many years away from being licensed and available for widespread public use. " Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, said: "We knew that these vaccines worked in mice and now the researchers have shown that they also protect non-human primates from Zika virus infection. "The next step will be to see if these vaccines are safe and the scientists hope to start early trials in humans to address this. " But he said there were still many questions about how a Zika virus would behave - including whether or not they would be effective in people exposed to related viruses such as dengue.

2016-08-05 04:19 www.bbc.co.uk

64 What will be the legacy of the Olympic Games in Rio? Preparations for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have been full of controversies and hurdles along the way. A severe recession in Brazil , a nationwide Zika outbreak and the governor of Rio declaring a state of financial emergency added strain to the difficult task of building venues and infrastructure. When Rio were awarded the Games back in 2009, the city's 6.3 million people were promised Rio 2016 would leave a lasting legacy of improvements. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes has staunchly defended the promises made at the time, saying that Rio is a better place for all the investment poured into it. "Don't compare Rio to Tokyo or Chicago. Compare Rio to itself," he said referring to Rio's challenging mix of inequality, violence, natural beauty and diverse geography which has proved testing for the authorities. Below we look at some of the key promises made and ask to what extent they have been met. Rio's security situation deteriorated very quickly over the past few weeks as the Rio state government, which runs the police, declared a state of calamity over its finances. Some officers were not paid on time and staged protests at the city's international airport, holding up placards in the arrival lounge bearing the ominous warning: "Welcome to Hell" . In the run-up to the Olympic Games, a few high profile cases of extreme violence further rocked the city. In June, a doctor was shot to death by muggers in her car in a highway that runs across the city, coming from the international airport that will be used by tourists and teams. In the space of just six months, 60 members of the security forces have been shot dead. Violence seeps back into Rio's favelas The authorities have so far focussed on putting in place temporary measure to ensure security during the Games, such as drafting in extra security forces, but have so far made few permanent changes likely to outlast the Olympics. Brazil's justice minister has said that the main legacy in terms of security will be the "close co-operation" between federal, state and city agents. But critics say once the extra personnel leaves the city, Rio will again be faced with rampant violence which saw 1,715 murdered in Rio in the first four months of 2016. Transport will arguably be one of the two biggest legacies left by the Olympics in Rio, the other being tourism. Rio is a very challenging city for urban commuters. The west side, where most of the Olympic venues are located, is separated from the south and north by long distances and hills where favelas, or shanty towns, are located. A range of new transport options has been built for the Games. A new underground line and a new elevated highway connecting the rich neighbourhoods of Ipanema and Barra da Tijuca should reduce costs and travel time for commuters. Rio's suburbs and poorer north are now better integrated with the west through a new system of bus rapid transit. And downtown tourist areas now have a new light rail system connecting them to the local airport. But critics argue that too much has been invested in improving connections with the well-off area of Barra da Tijuca whereas the rest of the city continues to face massive traffic congestion and poor public transport. Some projects, like the underground, will operate during the Olympics but will shut down immediately after the Games in order for construction, which did not finish in time, to be completed. Housing has been another controversial issue with rich areas receiving massive investment and poorer neighbourhoods seeing virtually none. Rio has one of the worst housing problems in Brazil, second only to Sao Paulo's. One report suggests that the city would need to build more than 220,000 new homes to accommodate its population adequately. While London used the impetus of the 2012 Games to provide affordable housing in a regenerated part of town, Rio's approach has been to build the athletes' village in the upscale Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood. After the Games, the 3,604 flats in the village will be put on the market but because of their cost, they are expected to be snapped up mainly by families of the upper middle class. Poorer families living in Rio's favelas, which make up a fifth of the city's population, are unlikely to see much benefit from the Games. A government housing initiative called Morar Carioca was launched shortly after Rio won the Olympic bid and promised to improve all of Rio's favelas in a decade. But the programme was gradually abandoned and only two out of 40 projects are currently being carried out. Rio already has world-renowned tourist sites such as Sugar Loaf Mountain, Copacabana beach and the Christ the Redeemer statue. The authorities and the private sector have invested heavily in creating a new tourist hub downtown called Porto Maravilha , located where Rio's decrepit port once stood. A new art museum and the Museum of Tomorrow are the main features on the shores of Guanabara Bay, all easily accessible via a new light railway system. Brazil expects to welcome up to 500,000 tourists during the Games which the authorities hope will spend $1.7bn (£1.3bn) in the country. Rio authorities have cited the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992 and London in 2012 as events that continued to spark visitors' interest even after the Games but there is little data on the direct effects of hosting the Olympics on tourist numbers. In an attempt to increase Brazil's medal score at international sporting events, the Brazilian government has created a national network for training its athletes. Brazil is far from a sports powerhouse despite the large number of athletes it traditionally sends to the Olympics. Its best results in Olympic history were achieved in Athens in 2004, when the country won five gold medals and was number 16 in the medals table. After Rio 2016, two large sports complexes - in Barra and Deodoro neighbourhoods - will be kept as part of the training network. Rio has also gained a new drug-testing laboratory up to the latest international standards. Last year, hundreds of dead fish surfaced in Rio de Janeiro's Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, killed by pollutants in the water. Rio authorities promised that one of the lasting legacies of the Games would be the clean-up of the lagoon and Guanabara Bay, where the sailing events will be held. But that promise has not been kept. As with other such pledges made about security and transport improvements, the authorities have abandoned the idea of finding solutions that would benefit the whole of the city and concentrated their efforts on cleaning up the areas where competitions will be held. One of the promises was that by August 2016, 80% of the city's sewage would receive treatment. Environmentalists and activists say the real figure is below 60%.

2016-08-05 04:19 By Daniel www.bbc.co.uk

65 WBTV First Alert Weather forecast for 08.04.16 Here's what the Charlotte- Mecklenburg school board tackled during Tuesday's four-hour student assignment session. WBTV meteorologist Chris Larson with The Charlotte Observer weather forecast for Aug. 2, 2016. A broken water main causing early morning traffic delays on South Kings Drive at Ardsley Road. Water flow has been stopped. A repair crew is not yet on scene. Wives of CMPD officers give out meals and hugs for "Back the Blue Day" Demolition begins at the former home of The Charlotte Observer. Demolition is underway at the former home of The Charlotte Observer in uptown Charlotte. "You don't put your hands on my flight attendant! " Watch as an American Airlines flight crew tackles and restrains a Lexington, Ky., man after a flight to Charlotte. Michael Kerr is accused of intoxication, disruptive behavior and assault. WBTV meteorologist Chris Larson with The Charlotte Observer weather forecast for Aug. 1, 2016. For the fourth year in a row Blumenthal Performing Arts has sponsored a local, grassroots celebration of dance in conjunction with National Dance Day. Water discharge began just before 6:30 a.m. Saturday and should be concluded around midnight, a Mecklenburg County spokesman said in an email.

2016-08-04 16:17 www.charlotteobserver.com

66 The young entrepreneurs trying to help South Africa's townships Lance Petersen sits in his radio studio and chats into his microphone. While most DJs of his age let the music do the talking, the 25-year-old very much likes to converse with his listeners. Lance is the founder and owner of Vibe Radio SA, an internet radio station based in the Cape Town township of Athlone. Set up in 2011, Vibe is aimed at South Africa's teenagers and young adults. With listeners across the country, it engages with them on topics ranging from bullying, to HIV/Aids, fashion, and advice on becoming an entrepreneur. Lance says: "The point of Vibe Radio is to provide a platform that focuses solely on the youth voice, and gives young people the opportunity to say what's on their mind, and be heard. " He adds that the radio station was born from his own frustration at the lack of support given to young people in South Africa, and the failure to make them heard on a national level. "The scariest realisation I had was that the young didn't have a voice, or were seldom heard," says Lance. "It was at that realisation that I knew I had to find a way to start my own radio station. " A former TV producer, Lance set up the station using his own savings, and support from a Cape Town-based social enterprise called Reconstructed Living Lab (RLabs). Vibe now has 16 employees, and makes money from advertising. With the youth unemployment rate in South Africa standing at 37.5% (for people between the ages of 15 and 34), job opportunities are few and far between for many of Vibe's listeners. As a result, much of the station's focus is on discussing how young people can best go about launching and running their own businesses. Lance says the aim is for this always to be done in an interesting and entertaining way, or as he calls it - "edutainment". So for example, in a recent discussion about becoming a concert promoter, and how the cost of each ticket breaks down, he discussed a tour by teen heartthrob Justin Bieber. Another young entrepreneur from a Cape Town township, Andisiwe Nyavula, says that young people in her community need access to basic business services if they are to create self-sustaining companies. So since 2012 she has taken matters into her own hands. Ms Nyavula, 25, is the founder of Nzum Nzum, a chain of three business centres cum internet cafes that offer photocopying, printing and faxing, company registration, and web access to those trying to get their start-ups off the ground. The prices range from five South African rand (35 cents; 27p) for 30 minutes of internet access, to one rand per page of photocopying, and 80 rand for 10 business cards. About 3,000 people use the centres per month, which are located in the Cape Town townships of Nyanga, Phillipi and Gugulethu. But as much as Ms Nyavula tries to make a difference, she admits that there are many challenges facing township entrepreneurs that also need to be addressed, such as the high crime rates, rogue landlords, and unhelpful service providers. "It took more than three months to install a reliable connection at our new internet cafe," she says. "And if there's a problem it takes more than two weeks to fix it. "The townships have long been shunned by big businesses. " The World Bank estimates that more than half of South Africa's 53 million population lives in townships and other informal settlements. With that many potential customers, South Africa's townships should by rights be looked upon as potential economic hotspots. But attention tends to focus on the negatives, and little notice is given to the economic success stories hiding within South Africa's sprawling townships. "There are incredible individuals with amazing ideas and grassroots businesses that they run in the townships," says Craig Dumont, a member of the management team at RLabs. RLabs, which receives government grants to fund its work, provides would- be township entrepreneurs with training and support. From its main hub in a Cape Town township, since 2008 it has been an incubator for more than 50 start-up companies, and has seen thousands of entrepreneurs - including Vibe Radio's Lance Petersen - walk through its doors and receive business support. According to Mr Dumont, not only are township entrepreneurs innovative and determined, their knowledge of local needs gives them an advantage over corporate South Africa. "Township entrepreneurs have a deep understanding of their environment, the challenges, and their target audience," he says. Based in the Kayamandi township on the outskirts of the affluent Western Cape town of Stellenbosch, some 50km (30 miles) east of Cape Town, Loyiso Mbete is the type of businessman that Mr Dumont would say deserves more credit. Mr Mbete, 36, is a beekeeper who owns more than 400 hives and employs three people. He jokes that demand for his honey and related services - such as fruit pollination - is so high that he struggles to keep up. "I came from a poor family so there was always a need to make it in life," says Mr Mbete. "I had no choice but to find ways and means to make ends meet. " He adds: "It is important to understand that those businesses active in township are feeding the poor and uplifting people out of poverty. They also help create employment, so they are making a big contribution to the South African economy. " While many businesses in South Africa's townships complain that they don't get enough help from the authorities, the Western Cape Government says that in recent years it has greatly increased the support on offer. Alan Winde, its Minister for Economic Opportunities, says that over the past two years more than 2,000 small businesses based in townships across the province have been assisted by a scheme called the emerging business support programme. This provides financial management, sales and marketing training. He adds: "Regions across the province, including townships, are vibrant spaces for innovative small businesses. "

2016-08-05 04:19 By Gabriella www.bbc.co.uk

67 Rocks tell story of China's great flood Geologists have found evidence for an ancient megaflood which they say is a good match for the mythical deluge at the dawn of China's first dynasty. The legend of Emperor Yu states that he tamed the flooded Yellow River by dredging and redirecting its channels, thereby laying the foundations for the Xia dynasty and Chinese civilisation. Previously, no scientific evidence had been found for a corresponding flood. But now a Chinese-led team has placed just such an event at about 1,900BC. Writing in Science Magazine , the researchers describe a cataclysmic event in which a huge dam, dumped across the Jishi Gorge by a landslide, blocked the Yellow River for six to nine months. When the dam burst, up to 16 cubic kilometres of water inundated the lowlands downstream. The evidence for this sequence of events comes from sediments left by the dammed lake, high up the sides of Jishi Gorge, as well as deposits left kilometres downstream by the subsequent flood. Lead author Dr Wu Qinglong, from Nanjing Normal University, said he and colleagues stumbled on sediments from the ancient dam during fieldwork in 2007. "It inspired us to connect the next possible outburst flood with the abandonment of the prehistoric Lajia site 25km downstream," he told journalists in a teleconference. "But at that time we had no idea what the evidence of a catastrophic outburst flood should be. " The Lajia site, famously home to the world's oldest noodles , is known as China's Pompeii; its cave dwellings and many cultural artefacts were buried by a major earthquake. "In July 2008 I suddenly realised that the so-called black sand previously revealed by archaeologists at the Lajia site could be, in fact, the deposits from our outburst flood," Dr Wu said. "The subsequent investigation confirmed this speculation and showed that the sediments from this outburst flood are up to 20m thick, and up to 50m higher than the Yellow River - indicating an unprecedented, devastating flood. " He and his colleagues suggest in their paper that the very same earthquake that destroyed the Lajia dwellings probably dammed the river upstream. Less than a year later, the waters returned with a vengeance "It reached up to 38m above the modern river level," said co-author Dr Darryl Granger, from Purdue University in the US. "The flood was about 300-500,000 cubic metres per second. That's roughly equivalent to the largest flood ever measured on the Amazon river; it's among the largest known floods to have happened on Earth during the past 10,000 years. " Using carbon dating - on flood deposits and even on fragments of bone from earthquake victims at Lajia - the researchers date the megaflood to 1,922BC, "plus or minus about 28 years", Dr Granger said. If the flood was indeed the source of the Emperor Yu legend then the founding of the Xia dynasty presumably occurred within a few decades, in about 1,900BC. This date is 200-300 years later than many previous estimations. But Emperor Yu's tale is difficult to pin down using traditional historical sources; the story survived as oral history for a millennium and its first known written record dates to around 1,000BC. On the other hand a later, circa 1,900 commencement for the Xia supports that idea that this first dynasty coincided with the transition from Stone Age to Bronze Age ways of living. Some archaeologists have already linked the Xia dynasty with the Erlitou culture, an early Bronze Age society known from digs elsewhere in the Yellow River valley. Dr David Cohen from National Taiwan University, another co-author, said the study was remarkable because of the multiple lines of evidence involved. "We have the geological evidence of just a huge outburst flood, which is incredible in itself," he said. "But then there's this coincidence of it co-occurring with the destruction of the Lajia site - which is able to give us very, very precise dates… and then that this flood was of such a scale and corresponds in time, and along the Yellow River, with both the beginnings of Bronze Age civilisation and the legend of the great flood itself. "It's just this amazing story. All these different approaches coming together - it is just great luck. " Prof David Montgomery of the University of Washington is a geomorphologist with an interest in what rocks can tell us about ancient myths and legends. He was not involved in the research but wrote a commentary for the journal and discussed the findings on the BBC World Service programme Science in Action . Among the world's various flood myths, Prof Montgomery said, Emperor Yu's story is an odd one. "It's not about surviving. His basic story is about draining the flood waters; it's about river engineering. " The case made for the Jishi Gorge megaflood is a plausible one, he said, particularly because it describes a flood that would have broken the Yellow River's banks far downstream and re-routed its flow. Prof Montgomery said this is just the sort of event that would take decades to deal with - and a long battle with the waters is a feature of the Yu myth. "It's very difficult to ever actually prove the origin of pre-written history events. But they've made a very interesting case, that I'm sure geologists will continue to poke at, and investigate, and argue about - because that's what we do. " At a purely geological level, he added, the flood is a major and intriguing discovery. "But the cultural connection - possibly explaining the origin of the Chinese flood story - is too intriguing to ignore. " Follow Jonathan on Twitter

2016-08-05 04:19 By Jonathan www.bbc.co.uk

68 Badgers may not spread TB to cattle through direct contact Badgers may not transmit TB to cattle by direct contact, according to new research. A study suggests that cows contract the disease by coming into contact with infected faeces and urine in pasture. The scientists involved suggest that advice given to farmers to control the spread of the disease may need to be reassessed. The research has been published in Ecology Letters. Scientists have known for 40 years that badgers transmit TB to cattle and, more recently, probably vice versa. But no one knows exactly how the disease is transmitted. To find out whether it is by direct contact, researchers tracked the movement of hundreds of cattle and badgers using collars with GPS and proximity sensors across 20 farms in Cornwall. Despite the fact that the collared cattle spent the equivalent of nearly 15 years in the home ranges of GPS collared badgers, the two species were never found in close proximity. The researchers found there was not a single instance of direct contact and there was also some evidence that if anything badgers avoid the bigger animals, with the tracking data indicating that the creatures preferred to be at least 50 metres away from the cattle. Current control measures recommended by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) assume that direct contact is an important method of transmission. According to the lead author, Prof Rosie Woodroffe of the Zoological Society of London, advice to farmers will now need to be re-assessed. "There are loads and loads of things that farmers are being advised to do and there is no certainty that any of them will actually work and because of this, hardly any farmers implement any of these sorts of measures," she told BBC News. "If we can focus on the things most likely to work on that massive array of things farmers are being advised to do more people will do them. " Prof Woodroffe and her colleagues are now trying to identify how the disease is transmitted. The most likely possibility is that it is through badger faeces and urine which may leave the TB infection in grazing pasture for many months. This would help to explain why it takes so long for culling badgers to have an effect - because the infection they have left in the environment can last for months. If that is the case it raises the possibility that some cattle-to-cattle transmission is happening through the environment. That is important because TB in cattle is managed as a contagious disease and assumes that cows need to be in close contact with each other to get the disease. Blunt instrument If there is a possibility that some cattle-to-cattle transmission is happening through the environment, Defra will have to consider whether to modify its control measures further, according to Prof Woodroffe. "We are now beginning to identify how the transmission happens and that ought to open up an array of finely tuned management approaches instead of the blunt instrument we have now," she says. In response to the findings of the study a Defra spokesperson said: "Our comprehensive strategy to beat bovine TB includes tighter cattle controls, good biosecurity and badger control in areas where the disease is widespread, and a number of measures are in place to prevent the spread of infection. "These include frequent testing and rapid removal of infected cattle, pre- and post-movement testing and wildlife proofing of high risk units. To reduce the risk of cattle-to-cattle transmission from contaminated environment, farmers are required to carry out cleaning and disinfection and to keep cattle out of fields grazed by reactors for two months after their removal. There are also rules about the use of manure and slurry on infected farms to mitigate the risks associated with their spread. " Defra is expected to extend its badger cull to seven new parts of South West England to help control the spread of the disease at the end of this month. The department is understood to have received 29 applications and expressions of interest for extensions of the cull in areas thought to include South Devon, North Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and North Cornwall. Follow Pallab on Twitter

2016-08-05 04:19 By Pallab www.bbc.co.uk

69 Brexit hit recruitment in July a new survey shows New survey data showed the number of people in the UK securing a permanent job has decreased for the second month in a row. The Report on Jobs, produced monthly by IHS Markit, collects data from 400 UK recruitment and employment firms. Its data showed that in July permanent placements fell at the sharpest rate since May 2009. The results also indicated that some clients of recruitment firms had shifted towards using short-term staff. Participants in the survey said uncertainty caused by Brexit had caused the shifts. "The UK jobs market suffered a dramatic freefall in July, with permanent hiring dropping to levels not seen since the recession of 2009," said Kevin Green, the chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), which sponsors the survey. However, Mr Green said it was important not to jump to conclusions from one month's data. "The truth is we don't know what long term consequences the referendum result will have on UK jobs. With the political situation becoming more stable and the Bank of England making sensible decisions, we may well see confidence return to the jobs market more quickly than anticipated," he said. Of the recruitment consultants polled, nearly 38% said they had placed fewer people in permanent positions in July, an increase from 32% in June. Despite this, the survey found that demand for employees was high in many sectors and starting salaries for both permanent and temporary staff increased in July. Nursing and medical care was the most in-demand category for permanent staff during July. Construction workers saw a decline in demand for their services, albeit modest overall. "Demand for staff remains strong with vacancies continuing to rise, but the sharp fall in placements suggests that businesses are highly cautious about committing to new hires," said Mr Green. "Economic turbulence following the vote to leave the EU is undoubtedly the root cause. " The survey comes a day after Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said unemployment in the UK was expected to rise to 5.5% over the next two years. It is currently 4.9%.

2016-08-05 04:19 www.bbc.co.uk

70 Renault-Nissan 'reasonably optimistic' over Brexit The chief executive of Renault-Nissan has told the BBC he is "reasonably optimistic" that the UK will be an important partner with the European Union, despite its vote to leave. Carlos Ghosn said Nissan is not ready to make decisions on plans for its Sunderland plant, which employs 6,700. Investment there depends on the outcome of UK-EU talks on Brexit, he said. In November, Mr Ghosn warned Nissan would reconsider investment in the UK if Britain voted to leave the EU. "We are reasonably optimistic at the end of the day common sense will prevail from both sides," Mr Ghosn said. The Nissan boss thinks that the UK will continue to be a "big partner" for the European Union, but he said: "The question is what will happen to customs, trade and circulation of products". "That will determine how, and how much we will invest in the UK," he said. Mr Ghosn described Nissan's Sunderland plant as a "European plant based in the UK", as most of its production is exported to Europe. The plant made 500,000 cars last year, making it the biggest car plant in the UK, according to Nissan. All you need to know about Brexit Mr Ghosn said there was "no doubt" that prices for Renaults, and other cars made in Europe and sold in the UK, will rise due to falling value of sterling. However, he thinks final prices will only be determined once the pound stabilises. He said the UK economy will see some contraction "not because there is anything wrong with the UK, but because markets hate uncertainty". Renault-Nissan says the global car market will continue to be sluggish until 2019. Mr Ghosn said he does not regret sponsoring the Rio Olympics, at a time when Brazil's car industry is facing its worst year in decades. Car sales have tumbled 40% in Brazil in three years, due to a severe recession. The company's goal with the Olympics sponsorship is to help increase its market-share in Brazil from 3% to 5%.

2016-08-05 04:19 By Daniel www.bbc.co.uk

71 Obama Offers Rules for Republicans Having declared Donald Trump to be “unfit to serve as president,” President Obama urged Republican leaders to disavow the GOP nominee Tuesday. “The question they have to ask themselves is,” quoth the president, “If you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?” I just love it when Democrats make up rules that apply only to others, never themselves. Resplendent in his sanctimony, Obama was standing in a pulpit that only preaches rectitude to outside denominations. I am no fan of The Donald. I didn’t vote for him in California’s June primary when he was the only Republican left standing. I lean toward Libertarian Gary Johnson. I am open to Trump doing something that tells me he actually could be an able president, but it hasn’t happened yet. Now Obama says it is not enough to criticize Trump when he’s wrong, good Republicans must ignore the choice of primary voters. (Nothing partisan there.) Obama declared Trump untenable after the billionaire’s thin-skinned reaction on Twitter to a speech made by Khizr Khan, the father of a slain Muslim U. S. Army captain. Yes, it is intemperate for any candidate to lash out at the parent of a fallen hero — but it’s silly to get huffy about Trump talking back when Khan, after all, challenged Trump at the Democratic National Convention. Both actors were playing politics. Cable news is breathless in anticipation that this flap will lead to Trump’s collapse. I’m not taking the bait. Republicans who tend to fall for calls to denounce the GOP ticket for the good of the USA tend to be the usual swelled heads. In 2008, they walked away from Sen. John McCain, R- Arizona, because he asked then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Her shortcomings overshadowed McCain’s accomplishments to such precious Republicans as former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld (now the Libertarian running mate), conservative scion Christopher Buckley and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Like-minded nominal Republicans lamented that they no longer recognized their party. It was an agonizing decision, they professed in op-ed pieces. Democrats hailed their courage as the small stampede ran selflessly into the loving arms of Washington’s ruling elite. This year is different. A rump of GOP stalwarts resisted Trump early and for good reason. (He has a history of donating to Democrats; he doesn’t hold conservative positions.) But really, if a Republican was not with #NeverTrump before last week, why defect now? Over a tweet? Democrats show few scruples when it comes to their nominee. Hillary Clinton’s decision to manage her State Department emails with a homebrew server put national security at risk. She has lied repeatedly about the State Department authorizing her use of a private server, about not sending classified material and about handing over all official emails to investigators. Her tact may be operational, but her judgment is impaired. When she crosses lines, she does so with action not tweets. Everyone knows that if Clinton is elected, she’ll spend the next four years breaking the china, and then lying about it. We can all see the future, so why are Democrats still endorsing her?

2016-08-05 04:18 Debra J spectator.org

72 Judo champ throws Kosovo hopes into Rio Olympics mix Flying the flag can be a vexed question in Kosovo. The black eagle of Albania is on display all over the capital, Pristina. On the other hand, in Mitrovica, the Serbian shield flutters defiantly at the north end of the notorious New Bridge, which splits this ethnically- divided town. But eight years on from the unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, the official flag of the Republic of Kosovo remains - at best - a distant second-favourite for much of the population. The unlovely design does not inspire devotion. It looks like the diplomatic fudge it almost certainly was - an inoffensive shade of blue (Albanian red was out of the question), with a graphic representation of the country's borders (a warning against any future changes) and six stars (symbolising Kosovo's major ethnic groups). But in Rio, this flag will fly at the Olympic Games for the first time. And it will be carried by an athlete who is a strong favourite for a gold medal in her event. Majlinda Kelmendi is a double world champion judo player - rated as the best in any weight category in 2014 - and has just reclaimed her European title, after injuries prevented her from competing for much of 2015. "It was a hard year, but I came back good," she says after a training session at the spartan Ippon dojo in the hills above her home town, Pec (known as Peja among the ethnic-Albanian residents). This will not be Majlinda's first time at the Olympics. In London, she represented Albania but did not make it through to the medal rounds - leaving her with mixed feelings about carrying Kosovo's flag in Brazil. "I just want to represent Kosovo as a new country and promote it. But I don't want to talk about this - I want to focus on my fight. "In London I was good enough - prepared and strong. But I thought too much about what people would say if I won or lost. Afterwards we can talk about how it felt to be the flag-bearer! " Regardless of Majlinda's determination to keep a lid on her feelings, this is a big moment for Kosovo. Its independence remains unrecognised by more than 80 UN member states, including China, India, Russia and, indeed, the host nation of this year's Olympics. Participation in Rio is only possible because the International Olympic Committee accepted Kosovo as a member at the end of 2014. That encouraged other sports governing bodies to follow suit - most recently Fifa and Uefa. But Kosovo's political leaders are keen to acknowledge the role played by the world champion from Pec. "Majlinda is a better ambassador than me and all the other diplomats combined," says Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi. "There are great sportsmen and women in Kosovo - isolating them is unfair and dangerous. Open hearts and minds aren't born in isolated states. We will use the results on the sports field to ensure that if we can have our flag in the Olympics we can have it in other things. " Sport plays a key role in Kosovo's campaign to gain greater recognition of its independence. "We will use membership of Fifa and Uefa to expand our portfolio of lobbying arguments," says Mr Selimi. Kosovo win first full international Kosovo & Gibraltar become Fifa members Kosovo profile Long-term observers of the Western Balkans see recent developments as crucial to maintaining momentum. "Recognitions have slowed significantly in recent years," says James Ker- Lindsay, senior research fellow on the politics of Southeast Europe at the London School of Economics. "In the absence of recognition at state level, one of the key ways to legitimise Kosovo is integrating it into international sporting organisations and events. "A few years ago a diplomat said Belgrade will finally accept Kosovo as an independent state when it sees Kosovo playing football in the World Cup - and I think that's an accurate statement. By taking part in the World Cup and the Olympics, Kosovo is really cementing its place on the international stage. " This legitimisation applies as much to its own people as an external audience. The lack of a team to cheer at international events has led many ethnic-Albanians to shout for Albania instead. And the absence of many of the other symbols of statehood - from an international dialling code to membership of the United Nations - has added to a sense that Kosovo is far from a fully-formed country. Besa Luci, editor-in-chief of Kosovo 2.0 magazine, was behind Kosovo Wants To Play - a campaign for sporting recognition. She says the opportunity to represent Kosovo is crucial to the country's health. "Otherwise you're just paving the way for Albanian nationalist sentiment to grow. "People want to feel for Kosovo and see it represented internationally. What we saw with the first friendly football match against Haiti was people with Kosovo flags and T-shirts - people for the first time embracing and accepting the state symbols of Kosovo. "The moment you have the opportunity to represent your country internationally, you will also start demanding more from your state. Ultimately it enables people to be citizens of a country, state, republic, where everyone should be treated equally. Sport has that kind of power. " In Rio, it will be Majlinda Kelmendi representing Kosovo - and she certainly has the power to bring joy to her compatriots. "If athletes from Kosovo are successful at the Olympics, it will help the country a lot," she says. But then she narrows her focus - in the way that champions do. "Whether I win or lose is my responsibility. I only have to be responsible to my coach - I don't need to think about what the prime minister or the president will say. "

2016-08-05 04:19 By Guy www.bbc.co.uk

73 Hillary Clinton Goes Full Freud: We’ll Tax The Middle Class! To a cheering crowd, Hillary Clinton announced that she’s all for taxing the Middle Class: Now, her gaffe was certainly not intentional, but wow, what a Freudian slip. In order for her to fund all her socialist fantasies, she will definitely have to tax the middle class. It’s nice to hear her admit it even if she didn’t mean it. The most fun part of this clip is that the idiots in her audience cheered. That leads one to wonder: Are her true believers all on the dole or so rich that being taxed more doesn’t matter? Clearly, they don’t consider themselves as part of this group who’s about to be on the receiving end of this class warfare. Every once in a while, truth falls out of this lady’s face. It’s usually by accident.

2016-08-05 04:18 Melissa Clouthier spectator.org

74 Miami tourist destination now a Zika hotspot Things are not normal in the Wynwood Art District in downtown Miami, where mosquito repellents are placed next to napkins and hot sauce in one restaurant. Three TV stations have set up a presence on Wynwood's main avenue. US health officials issued an "unprecedented" alert on Monday warning pregnant women not to come here. Governor Rick Scott confirmed that 15 cases of the Zika virus have been detected in the last week. Zika causes severe birth defects, including microcephaly, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). CDC officials say it is the first such warning for a US location in their 70- year history. Still, the mood in this tourist neighbourhood remains relaxed. Despite the warnings, young people still gather outside hip coffee shops and restaurants. Once an industrial and often troubled area, Wynwood transformed after galleries, developers and street artists arrived in the early 2000s. Several visitors from Latin American countries, where thousands of Zika cases were reported this year, told the BBC that they don´t feel especially afraid. "In Venezuela, the Zika is fairly spread. We just put on some repellent," says Lisbeth Alcala, an US resident who is walking around Wynwood with visiting relatives. Guatemalan Gigi Vasconez, 19, knows about the alert, but still wants to take her portrait against one of Wynwood's famous graffiti walls. "It is just very common in Guatemala" she says. Other international visitors were less sanguine. Cedric and his family came to Miami from France. "Are you talking about the disease in Rio de Janeiro? " he asks, when told about the presence of Zika in the neighbourhood. "If we were not scared before, we are now! " Then, they ask about which nice art galleries to visit. Zika is spread by the mosquito Aedes Aegypti, the same responsible for Dengue and Chikungunya. That mosquito, which breeds in stagnant water, is the target of a fumigation campaign. Neither Zika nor insecticide spraying has stopped most businesses from operating in the neighbourhood. "We won't stop working, although we are being careful," says Jeffrey Romero, 19, who works in the garage that his family founded in 1985. Although he says he's afraid of getting the virus, he didn't use any repellent and wore a sleeveless American flag shirt while repairing cars outdoors. Authorities are worried that the efforts made so far are not working. They have decided to start aerial spraying. On Wednesday, they started using insecticide called Naled that, according to the CDC, has already been used to control Aedes Aegypti in the US. The CDC says residents can go on with their lives, but that those with an allergic reaction to Naled should stay home. Sven Vogtland, one of the owners of a popular Mexican restaurant, has decided to take his own steps to ensure that his business will not be affected by the recent outbreak. He placed mosquito repellent on the tables for the customers to use. And he fumigated his property before the government did. "It is worrying that the government has recommended that people don´t visit Wynwood," he says, though he believes it is still too early to tell if the number of visitors has decreased because of the alert. On most weekends, he serves 2,000 customers. He is waiting to see if this weekend will be any different.

2016-08-05 04:14 By Patricia www.bbc.co.uk

75 Rock Hill homeless shelter inspired by teen holds open house, fundraiser The Sheriff's Foundation of York County donated 574 backpacks and school supplies to all four York County school districts Wednesday during the fourth annual Operation Back Up. The Foundation bought $1,700 worth of backpacks and used remaining funds and donations to purchase school supplies. Byron Caulk of Pawleys Island finds what he says is a "delicious" dog at Ebenezer Grill in Rock Hill, South Carolina after showing up in the city as part of his mission looking for the best hot dog in the Carolinas. Nickerson, 4, is an orphan and a sponsor child of the Cherikos family of Tega Cay. Michelle Cherikos, a former Strawberry pageant title holder, volunteers with Give Hope Global, a faith-oriented non-profit based in Fort Mill and brought the boy here for possibly life-saving surgery. Gold Star families who have lost loved ones in combat in wars are outraged at Donald Trump for taking on a Gold Star family of a Muslim soldier who was killed in action in Iraq. TJ Dudley's mother, Robyn, is demanding Trump apologize. Larry Feller of Smyrna in western York County is one of only two farmers in South Carolina to grow hops, a plant used to flavor beer. The owner of Persimmon Hill Hops has grown 1,200 plants and is hopping on board with local breweries. The farmer has successfully grown two varieties of hops and plans to expand into additional fields at his farm. Luke and Brittney Stasi and their five children are in Kenya trying to change the lives of impoverished children by handing out 1,000 soccer balls as part of their Slum Soccer ministry. Dozens of local kids of all ages beat the heat Friday by attending the Vacation Bible School held by Tega Cay Baptist Church at Steele Street Park near downtown Fort Mill. Three music leaders at Oakland Baptist Church in Rock Hill are retiring at the same time after serving the church for 32 years. Minister of Music Shelden Timmerman, organist Barbara Beam and pianist Melanie O'Neal said they want to travel and spend more time with their families. On Sunday morning at 10:30, the church will hold “Music Sunday. " Emily Burton, Keeper of Small Mammals at Riverbanks Zoo explains the surprises of the baby lemurs born in June. The first time parents were not a breeding pair, meaning they were on birth control when the conceived the triplets. Lemurs can have litters of up to six babies. Becky Wright of Rock Hill, a social worker for the York County Council on Aging, found $300 in an ATM and turned it into police. Here's her story.

2016-08-05 04:15 www.heraldonline.com

76 Navigating the current hurdles of voice search There was a time, not long ago, when asking your Xbox to order a pizza seemed like an impossible dream. But the future, as they say, is now. And the possibilities for voice-enabled technology certainly don’t end there. In fact, voice may very well help search as we know it evolve into a more predictive, conversational experience in which all of a consumer’s needs in a given moment – like, say, “I need to book a flight to Las Vegas on October 10 for $300” -- are resolved by a voice assistant within a single ecosystem. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Despite the whiz-bang things consumers can do with voice in this day and age, insiders don’t expect voice search to overtake text in the same way mobile searches eventually surpassed desktop. And that’s in part because voice still has some inherent limitations. Here’s a closer look at these restraints: Technology For starters, voice search is limited by technology that may still not deliver the best results, said David Lau, vice president of media at digital marketing agency iCrossing. In other words, no matter how consumers search, they expect the first results to be most relevant. And Tom Anthony, head of research and development at online marketing agency Distilled, agreed that voice is not always the ideal interface to return information. “With voice as output [in devices like Amazon Echo, but soon Google Home and likely the rumored Siri-powered Apple Home Appliance], you can no longer rely on web search for meaningful answers,” Anthony said. “In the same way as ‘Intelligent Personal Assistants’ [like Google Now, Siri, Cortana, Hound and Viv] already respond to many queries with some form of direct answer, which requires them picking just one answer – [and not providing] ten blue links, a device that speaks the answer will need to make a decision about what answer to give you. This is part of the move towards data-driven search.” At the same time, voice searches also include tone, which is often a better indication of intent, and the longer queries more typically found in voice also have additional clues about said consumer’s intent, noted Purna Virji, senior manager of PPC training at Microsoft. Mispronunciations However, another issue for brands, marketers, search engines and devices alike is that speech recognition is much more complicated than text. In other words, in addition to just words, these entities must now grapple with accents and dialects, not to mention mispronunciations. In an effort to enhance the experience of Australian consumers, in January, Google announced its app “speaks ‘Strayan'” , including an Australian voice that speaks back to them, along with pronunciations of “all those wonderful and complex Aussie place names out there.” And Virji noted it will simply take additional time for search engines to cater to other dialects and languages. Further, Michael Bonfils, managing director of SEM International, noted intent and voice tonality can mean entirely different things in different languages, which further complicates search marketing. “So it’s understanding that and driving toward how do you optimize it and trying to think of additional challenges for behavior and mispronunciations like ‘Porsche.’ Some [people] say, ‘Porch,’” Virji said. “And if you do a search on Google or Bing for common mispronunciations, look at Givenchy. How do these brands prepare for that? For semi-complicated brand names, it’s not just misspellings -- it’s mispronunciations.” But the good news is it will get better. According to Virji, the more consumers interact with voice-enabled devices, the more they will improve, much like children who learn after their parents correct them when they make language mistakes. “This technology needs more and more interaction to learn, so I think as it’s growing, the accuracy will be better and that’s the cycle -- more and more people will use it and the accuracy will get better,” she said. Consumer habits But consumers will have to evolve, too. Virji cited comScore figures that found by 2020, 50 percent of all search queries will be via voice, which she thinks is a realistic timeframe for consumers to grow accustomed to it. “When the iPhone came out [we were cautious], but now we take 800 selfies a day – we got trained,” Virji said. “The younger generation…they are going to grow up and it’s normal. But we’re so used to two- to three- word queries, so we’re still getting used to talking. But look at Bluetooth – everyone felt like huge idiots at first, but now you can talk to your watch and it’s fine…and as more devices come out with voice as the only UI, it can speed up the timeline.” Further, she pointed to her nine-year-old son, who she said is perfectly comfortable having conversations with Siri or Alexa and asking for what he wants, like Batman cartoons. Indeed, a 2014 Google study found more than half of teens use voice search daily . “He’s really comfortable, whereas [adults] are still being trained,” she added. “But we will evolve.” At the same time, Lau questioned how many consumers actually use voice search after it first emerged in 2011 with Siri and Google Now. What’s more, he noted he can frequently get what he needs faster by typing. Lau even likened voice search to visual search in some respects, pointing to a consumer who queries a picture of a dress intending to find out who designed it, but who instead receives results related to shopping. “When I search for something nuanced, I don’t get the immediate results I desire,” he said. “With voice, it seems like a hassle.” Privacy concerns Further, Lau said he thinks old habits die hard and pointed to the dual limitations of psychology and technology holding voice back. He also cited privacy concerns, particularly for consumers in public spaces. “If you’re injured or disabled, it’s a godsend. Voice absolutely helps you out,” Lau said. “And Alexa…is Amazon’s most successful product and it goes to show there is something to be said about having a virtual assistant on standby that you can activate by talking into the air. It works at home, so there is a degree of privacy, but if you’re on a crowded Subway train, are you going to search via voice or type it in?”

2016-08-05 04:50 www.thedrum.com

77 DWI Task Force leads to arrests The Woodfin Police Department and the Asheville Buncombe DWI Task Force conducted a multi-agency checking station July 29 using the BATmobile program on Riverside Drive. One DWI arrest was made in addition to other arrests and citations given for persons with outstanding warrants for drug charges and multiple other motor vehicle law violations. In addition to the Woodfin Police Department and the Asheville Buncombe DWI Task Force, law enforcement officials from North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, North Carolina Highway State Patrol, officials from the North Carolina License and Theft Bureau and magistrates from the Buncombe County Magistrates Office worked together to make the station a reality. The Asheville Buncombe DWI Task Force is a grant-funded alliance between the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department and the Asheville Police Department intended to serve as a deterrent to drunken driving. The more than $700,000 in state funding was awarded to Buncombe County in 2014.

2016-08-05 04:17 www.thetribunepapers.com

78 78 IOC clears 271 Russian athletes for Rio Games — RT Sport “271 athletes will form the team entered by the Russian National Olympic Committee (ROC) from the original entry list of 389 athletes,” the IOC announced on its website, less than 24 hours before the opening ceremony of the games. The IOC accepted only those athletes who met the entire set of “very strict criteria” outlined in the July 24, 2016 Executive Board decision, including the controversial “presumption of guilt” clause dismissed by the international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). After rejecting calls to ban the entire Russian team from participation, the committee set up a panel to examine each athlete individually, based on information provided by their corresponding international sports federations as well as the position of independent arbitrator CAS. “I want to announce that the majority of our teams will participate at the Olympics in full,” the head of Russia’s Olympic Committee, Aleksandr Zhukov told reporters earlier on Thursday. However, the Russian track and field team will be completely banned from the Olympic Games, as the International Athletics Federation had issued a blanket ban on all Russians, except for those who “lived and trained abroad” over the past three years. READ MORE: WADA ‘sexed up’ anti-Russia case, implicated clean athletes – Australian media, citing officials

2016-08-05 04:17 www.rt.com

79 2011 riots: How one night changed my life In August 2011, thousands of people rioted in London and other cities and towns in England. For some of those involved, their lives changed dramatically. A man was smashing a jewellery shop window with a fire extinguisher. Youths ran past him carrying hand tools as the local Wimpy fast food restaurant was trashed and shops including Curry's, Carphone Warehouse and Blacks were looted. "I saw loads of girls coming out of Debenhams with big suitcases and smiles on their faces. I saw people running around with hand tools. I saw streams of people going in and out of shops, back and forth. They had armfuls of stuff and they were dropping things because they couldn't carry it all. " Scott Bates stood watching the rioting in London's Clapham Junction from a street corner. He lived nearby and had come out because he was bored. "A guy had told me something was happening at [Clapham] Junction but for 10 minutes everything seemed normal. Then all of a sudden I saw about 150 guys rushing down Lavender Hill, maybe 200 boys coming up from the Winstanley estate and another crowd going along the main street. "They were smashing shop windows and shouting: 'No flags, no flags', which means people from different gangs weren't going to hurt each other. " Two days earlier a protest against the police shooting of Mark Duggan had ended with rioting in Tottenham, north London. By Monday night there was widespread looting, arson and violence across the capital. It spread to six other towns and cities the following day, before order was finally restored. "I watched it all happening for about 40 minutes. Some rioters had dragged people off their motorbikes, others were smashing cars. " Bates, then 18, walked down to the corner where Debenhams stood, where he saw girls wheeling out luggage through the broken windows. "The police turned up and formed a line, but they were pushed back all the way up the street to Nando's. " About an hour later Scott realised the local fancy dress shop, Party Superstore, was on fire. It was the only building in the area to be set ablaze. "I didn't understand what the point of setting it alight was. I knew people were angry but that point had been made. And why the party shop? Why would anyone have hate against them? " Duncan Mundell watched his business burn to the ground with the same sense of disbelief. He had received a call earlier that evening saying the windows of his party shop had been smashed and had rung his insurance broker to organise boarding them up. "Half an hour later a friend rang me in tears, saying: 'Duncan your shop is on fire.' I called back the broker and told him to forget about the boards. " Mundell and his wife went down to the store to help the fire brigade locate where the gas canisters were in the building. It was still alight. "I remember my wife saying to me, 'Our lives are going to change completely.'" The Party Superstore was gutted. No-one was hurt. Bates's life would also change overnight - in his case because of an impulsive decision. "I was walking along and my adrenaline was just going," he says. "There was stuff lying on the street and I picked up a couple of watches, a jumper and some tracksuit bottoms. I wasn't thinking then if it was right or wrong. In all honesty I thought the watches looked expensive and that I could sell them and get a pot of money. It would give me a starting step which I really needed. " He headed home as he was worried that the gangs might turn on each other. "When I got back I was sick straight away. " The riots had broken out at a low point in the teenager's life. Bates describes learning to take care of himself from a young age. "Looking after my parents put a lot of strain on me, I remember burning myself trying to iron my school uniform when I was 12. I still have the scar. " His elder sister left at 15, leaving Scott aged 11 and his 10-year-old brother at home. "[My parents] would send me out underage to try and buy them cigarettes. I knew it wasn't how it was supposed to be and I had a lot of anger. I found it hard to concentrate at school. I would just sit in my own little world. " Bates had been in trouble with the police twice before. When he was 14 he broke a window trying to prove himself to his older friends. A year later he robbed someone on his estate of their mobile phone. "I felt guilty at the time but I was young and thought this way I'd have a phone like everyone else. I had no-one and no hope. " That same year one of his teachers helped him move out to a hostel, but he struggled as it didn't feel like a home. "There was a metal detector and they wouldn't let you in if you were a minute after 10pm," he says. He passed some GCSEs but decided to go straight to work. "It was a case of going to school or putting food on my table. I did garden maintenance and painting around my estate. I got new business through word of mouth as I did a good job. " Bates became involved with his local church youth group and stayed out of trouble with the police. He also moved to a more relaxed hostel. However, in the summer of 2011 he felt depressed. "I was living on around £20 a week, which went on food and travel. I had just split up with my girlfriend and I had no place of my own. " Then the riots happened. "When I took those things I knew I had done something bad and I did feel guilty. However, I thought to myself that plenty of other people there had done far worse. " The repercussions were swift. The next afternoon police raided the hostel Bates was living in and made multiple arrests. He was in the bath when the door was broken in. "They let me put on some clothes and searched my room. They found the items I took in the wardrobe and asked me if I had taken them and I admitted it. " He was taken to a police station and held in a cell until about 10pm. He was interviewed and confessed to picking up the items. At 1am he was taken to court where he was given a solicitor. "As soon as I went upstairs the judge just said: 'Remand.' She was saying it to everyone, she didn't want to hear the case. " Bates was taken straight to Feltham Prison where he spent six weeks in his cell for more than 23 hours a day. "There was a single bed and a toilet at the end. I had a TV but the aerial was kind of gone so you'd have to bang it. There was nothing to do all day. You would get your breakfast with your dinner, but I would eat them both at once as I was still hungry. "I had never been to prison before and I was worried as I'd heard bad stories. In our free half-hour we could have a shower, make a quick phone call and get some clean clothes. They put out three big bins, of green T- shirts, grey tracksuit bottoms and grey socks each day. There was always a rush to get some before they all went. " The half hour of "socialisation" was increased to an hour after six weeks. He was called to the Inner London Magistrates Court after three months on remand. His solicitor had told him he expected him to be released. Instead he was sentenced to 12 months. With only three months served that meant returning to prison. He spent another three months inside. The average custodial sentence given by magistrates increased from 2.5 months in 2010 to 6.6 months for rioters in 2011, according to government statistics. Some judges said they imposed harsher sentences to act as a deterrent to others. The riots had led to five deaths and inflicted £200m worth of damage. "I remember the judge was disgusted with me because it was to do with the riots. He saw us as all the same. I know I had done something wrong but I was devastated as I was expecting to go home. "I met one guy in there who got three months for taking a bottle of water. He was seriously depressed. " Back in Clapham Junction, Duncan Mundell faced an uphill struggle to save his business. "I had to remortgage our house and cash in my pension," he says. "The insurance covered the contents that we had lost and the shop as a shell. However, it didn't cover electrical wiring and flooring. Also we had built up the costume hire department over the years and it was too difficult to replace. I had losses of well over £200,000. " Mundell was most concerned that the losses would hit the charity he had founded in Burma, Street Kids Rescue. "We were helping thousands of disadvantaged kids in Burma and used some of the profits from the business to help fund it. " However, he says he never felt anger about the riots and instead he was saddened by the whole situation. "I know it wasn't personal to me. There were social problems. It's one of those things - you just live with it. " With the shop facing an uncertain future, Mundell was spurred into action. Two days after the riots he walked in to Debenhams and asked if he could borrow some retail space. "The retail manager called me back that day and said his daughter had loved our party shop and that they would make it happen. "Six weeks later we moved in. We had 2,000 sq ft, which was about half of our usual space. The publicity from the riots also led to an influx of help for the charity. We received £3,000 in immediate donations but we also got a number of long-term fundraisers. " While Mundell benefited from a groundswell of support following the riots, Bates was concerned about a backlash. "There were people in prison who hated the rioters because they knew people whose shops had been targeted. I was wondering 'Am I one of those people in society who are going to get shunned?'" In his final three months in prison Bates had taken courses in bricklaying and painting and decorating. But he struggled to find work after he was released. "I had one interview at a removals company that was going really well. The manager was telling me the best bits of the job and the last question was 'do you have a criminal record?' I said I did and he said 'Sorry mate; we can't go any further.'" Bates set up a small DIY business with help from his local church and youth outreach programme YFC London. "We got a grant to buy tools and did a training session with some local lads. I had six or seven guys working with me, aged 14 to 20. We did all sorts, from redecorating a woman's home to cooking for a group of older people. "Some of our boys went to college or university. One guy got an apprenticeship at a big construction project and he still works there now. " However, Bates had to let them go for six months after the work dried up in 2013. "People just weren't hiring for a while and there was barely enough work for just me. One of my boys ended up getting in trouble. He's in prison for life now. " That was the same year that the Party Superstore shop reopened in Clapham Junction. It was a third larger after Mundell took over the lease on the shop next door. He has since opened a further store in Croydon and says his charity, now called Heal Kids Foundation, is going from strength to strength. "My motto in life has always been to 'make it happen'", he says. Scott Bates now has three young people working with him and does a couple of DIY jobs a week. "They all want to get construction apprenticeships. I keep them motivated and they do listen to me as they know I'm in the same situation as them. I'm trying to look for a better way than just selling drugs. " However, as this is real life, there isn't a clear-cut 'Hollywood ending.' Bates has been sleeping on friends' sofas for a few years after he was told he didn't have the right to stay in his last hostel. "I don't know where I will be staying day-to-day. I have a son who is 14 months old who I see on weekends during the day but I can't if I have work. If I had a home I could pick him up after work and have him for the night. " Bates keeps on striving. He is looking into whether the youth charity YMCA can assist him with housing and is trying to secure funding for a van for the Handy Boys, with the help of YFC. He plans to start training with the Street Pastors in September. "They go out and help the homeless on the street. I see it as another opportunity. I'm always trying to work out the best way to move forward. " F ollow Claire Bates on Twitter @batesybates Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook Photographs of Scott Bates by Phil Coomes

2016-08-05 04:19 By Claire www.bbc.co.uk

80 Mile marker signs on Catawba River thanks to Rock Hill Eagle Scout The Sheriff's Foundation of York County donated 574 backpacks and school supplies to all four York County school districts Wednesday during the fourth annual Operation Back Up. The Foundation bought $1,700 worth of backpacks and used remaining funds and donations to purchase school supplies. Byron Caulk of Pawleys Island finds what he says is a "delicious" dog at Ebenezer Grill in Rock Hill, South Carolina after showing up in the city as part of his mission looking for the best hot dog in the Carolinas. Nickerson, 4, is an orphan and a sponsor child of the Cherikos family of Tega Cay. Michelle Cherikos, a former Strawberry pageant title holder, volunteers with Give Hope Global, a faith-oriented non-profit based in Fort Mill. Gold Star families who have lost loved ones in combat in wars are outraged at Donald Trump for taking on a Gold Star family of a Muslim soldier who was killed in action in Iraq. TJ Dudley's mother, Robyn, is demanding Trump apologize. Larry Feller of Smyrna in western York County is one of only two farmers in South Carolina to grow hops, a plant used to flavor beer. The owner of Persimmon Hill Hops has grown 1,200 plants and is hopping on board with local breweries. The farmer has successfully grown two varieties of hops and plans to expand into additional fields at his farm. Luke and Brittney Stasi and their five children are in Kenya trying to change the lives of impoverished children by handing out 1,000 soccer balls as part of their Slum Soccer ministry. Dozens of local kids of all ages beat the heat Friday by attending the Vacation Bible School held by Tega Cay Baptist Church at Steele Street Park near downtown Fort Mill. Three music leaders at Oakland Baptist Church in Rock Hill are retiring at the same time after serving the church for 32 years. Minister of Music Shelden Timmerman, organist Barbara Beam and pianist Melanie O'Neal said they want to travel and spend more time with their families. On Sunday morning at 10:30, the church will hold “Music Sunday. " Emily Burton, Keeper of Small Mammals at Riverbanks Zoo explains the surprises of the baby lemurs born in June. The first time parents were not a breeding pair, meaning they were on birth control when the conceived the triplets. Lemurs can have litters of up to six babies. Becky Wright of Rock Hill, a social worker for the York County Council on Aging, found $300 in an ATM and turned it into police. Here's her story.

2016-08-05 04:15 www.heraldonline.com

81 Three bears invade packed Lake Tahoe beach during California drought (VIDEO) — RT Viral The Golden State is currently in its fifth consecutive year of “severe drought,” according to the California Water Science Center, with temperatures this year reaching their third-highest record level. Arid conditions have caused rivers once relied on by wild animals to dry up, meaning animals like bears have been forced to wander into areas occupied by humans in order to find water. On Tuesday, one such incident saw a family of black bears shock visitors to Pope Beach at Lake Tahoe, when they jumped into the shallow waters to cool off. Jason Holley, a biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told KCRA news that people should expect to see the animals more often in drought season. “Bears will use a lake for water … they’ll use it to cool off. In a drought situation that we’re in, some of their natural streams are dried up,” he said. “So, they’ll really rely on the lake more heavily during times of drought.” Footage of the bears’ day out at the beach shows the animals playing the waters of Lake Tahoe as the stunned crowd looks on. A second video reveals that the bears even took time to look in people’s bags for food, before roaming back into the woods.

2016-08-05 04:17 www.rt.com

82 The Chennai woman who runs a Hindu crematorium Traditionally, Hindu women do not visit a crematorium for the final rituals of their loved ones. But in the southern Indian city of Chennai, a 34- year-old woman has been managing one of the city's oldest and busiest cremation grounds. Praveena Soloman discusses her unusual career choice with the BBC's Geeta Pandey. It's mid morning and the Valankadu crematorium in the Anna Nagar district is a hive of activity. Ms Soloman, the administrator, is a picture of efficiency as she checks the arrangements one last time before the next body arrives. Minutes before noon, a sombre funeral procession reaches the crematorium. A man of 88 from a nearby area has died and his family has brought his body to perform his last rites. At the gates, the procession is met by N Manikandan who ushers the mourners in, hitting a brass plate with a gong and blowing a conch shell to announce their arrival. Ms Soloman steps out of her office to meet them, the procession is led up a flight of steps to a hall where the wooden pyre is laid on the floor. As a priest chants mantras, a male relative of the deceased performs the last rites before the body is taken up to be burned in a gas-fired furnace. It will take nearly two hours for the body to completely burn, Ms Soloman tells the family, and goes back to her office to complete the paperwork for them. "Tamil Nadu has a high literacy rate, 90% women here are literate, but still there are lots of limitations and barriers on them," she tells me. As the body is consigned to flames and we sit talking, Mr Manikandan begins to sing the Shivapuranam, a haunting melody invoking the Hindu god Shiva, "informing him that this mortal will be arriving at his feet soon". A crematorium is not really a happy place and although women are not expressly banned from attending, they have always been discouraged from being present. The explanation often has been that it is for their own wellbeing - since women are "softer and weaker" and may be traumatised by the death rituals. So when Ms Soloman, a mother of two and English literature graduate from Madras University, took up the job two-and-a-half years ago, it didn't go down well with many. "Not everyone was okay with a woman working here. Some teased us, some passed filthy remarks. Some even questioned what type of a woman would come and work here. They said we must be bad people and that was very hurtful," she told the BBC. Then there were people who were dependent on the cremation ground for their living and thought that they would lose their jobs. "So they threatened to throw acid on my face," she says. The first three months were the toughest, when even a tiny sound would make her jump. "But slowly they realised that we were not there to take away their jobs and things have changed. " The opportunity had come her way when the Indian Community Welfare Organisation , the NGO she had been working with for 12 years, won the contract to run the 120-year-old Valankadu crematorium. Long neglected, the cremation ground had become a dumping ground for rubbish - and groups of men assembled there every night to drink. "We thought we would make it a safe place for women and girls to come and spend the last moments with their loved ones. We wanted to create a calm and healing place," says ICWO chief AJ Hariharan. "So we asked all our senior women staff who would like to take up the challenge. Only two women volunteered and Ms Soloman became the first to be appointed to run a crematorium in Chennai. " And she hit the ground running - on her first day at work, she supervised seven cremations. "It was overwhelming," she says. "Every time there was a cremation, I would also cry with the mourners. It took me a lot of time to overcome that, to not cry when I saw other people crying. " Since taking over, Ms Soloman has worked hard to secure the place - building a boundary wall around the 4.5-acre grounds and installing security cameras, ensuring the place is well lit up at night. It also now has clean toilets, rubbish bins, and brightly coloured benches and dozens of trees and pot plants have been brought in to make the area more attractive. "Now people say it looks like a park," she says, visibly pleased. Her unusual career choice did surprise her family but, she says, they were very supportive. "When I told my husband, his first question was, 'Can you do it?' He said managing a crematorium was not easy, it's a male dominated space. I told him I'll give it a try and if I don't succeed, I'll look at plan B. He agreed. " Thankfully the need for that did not arise. And for her effort, she has found acceptance. Even praise. Priest Irushankar Narayanan says he is "very proud" of Ms Soloman. "She is doing a wonderful job. Before she came, the toilets were filthy. Now they are so clean you can eat a meal there. " The visitors, too, appreciate her presence. Janasi Ramachandran Krishnamachari, who is here for her father's cremation, says she wanted to accompany him in his last moments and describes Ms Soloman's presence as "a good trend". "And a trend-setter," says Divya Raju, who followed in Ms Soloman's footsteps and has been working at the crematorium for the past months. Ms Soloman says her stint at the crematorium has been a steep learning curve and the biggest lessons were during last November's Chennai floods. As large parts of the city went down under flood waters, and most of Chennai's 140 cremations grounds became inaccessible, she ensured the fires kept burning at Velankadu. "Normally, we get five to seven bodies daily. During the floods it was double that. We took up the challenge and thought we must support and help people and do our duty. We cremated 246 bodies in November alone. " Cremations are free and Ms Soloman's team receives 750 rupees from the civic authorities for each body they deal with. As we are wrapping up our interview, one of her colleagues brings her an urn with the ashes of the deceased. It's a sombre moment as she hands over the urn to the family. As we bid farewell, I ask her what she thinks of death. "There's nothing after death, that's what I understand," she says. "So be happy, enjoy what you're doing and do something good while you're alive. "

2016-08-05 04:14 www.bbc.co.uk

83 The Cote d'Azur on the edge after attacks Tourists see the resorts of the Cote d'Azur as a paradise, but the Bastille Day attack in Nice has left residents nervous about security. "Keep hold of my hand! " shouts a harassed man at his little daughter as she runs enthusiastically towards the kaleidoscope of colours exploding in the sky over Frejus port, trailing a toy rabbit by its ears. "What did I tell you about holding Daddy's hand at the fireworks? " He sees me looking at him, and shakes his head. "You can't help being nervous, you know? " he says. "In crowds like this, even with the police presence, you can't help thinking... " There is a reasonably healthy turnout at the port for the firework display, but everyone is a little on edge. The National Front (FN) Mayor of Frejus, David Rachline has upped security spending since the Nice attack - concrete bollards block vehicles from entering certain public areas, there are extra officers patrolling the streets, there are more CCTV cameras. "There are even soldiers on some of the beaches," says one man pushing his toddler in a buggy. "That is a first, and it is startling. " Nice is only 65km (40 miles) from the quaint little town of Frejus, and the impact of the 14 July attack there is very much being felt along the entire length of this seaside stretch of France. "For the first time in my life, I'm going to vote Front National," one local man tells me as he waits on some steps for family members to catch him up after the fireworks. "We've been attacked too many times now, and I think the FN is the only solution, extreme though it is, unfortunately. "No other party is tough enough with Islamist extremists. " The geographical position of the Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur region, facing North Africa just across the Mediterranean, has made it a natural far-right stronghold. A large proportion of the white population is descended from the "pieds noirs", the French colonists expelled from Algeria in the early 1960s who arrived in France with a "fear of Arabs", says Nonna Meyer, of Sciences- Po, formerly Paris Institute of Political Studies. And since the attack in Nice, there has been an increase in the number of people looking at the FN websites and signing up as party members. "Terrorist attacks," Ms Meyer says, "are very good for a party like the FN and for its leader, Marine le Pen. "She has been saying for years that we have too many refugees, too many immigrants and she has been linking them to Islamist fundamentalism and saying they are a reservoir for potential attacks. "So, now, she says, 'The right was in office, the left was in office, and what did they do? Nothing. Come to us. It is time to try the FN.'" On his wide desk, in his large office, the young FN Mayor and senator, Mr Rachline, has a poster of and a book about Johnny Hallyday. It was a real coup for Mr Rachline to persuade France's ageing but incredibly popular rocker to play a gig at his little seaside town last month - not least because Hallyday has long been a close supporter of Nicolas Sarkozy, party leader of the right-wing Republicans. "Of course, we have had a little drop in tourism this season," Mr Rachline tells me, as we settle into leather chairs and I mention that some of the beaches along the coast do not seem as packed as usual in high summer. "But then nearly 300 French citizens have been killed in just a few months. "Naturally, we have seen a lot more interest in the FN locally because of the security fears. "OK, I have stepped up some measures here in Frejus, but it is up to the state to introduce proper security measures, like clamping down on Salafism and closing radical mosques. "But the interior minister is just letting it all happen - he is not doing his job. ! We need to hit this problem at its base - the great tide of immigrants and refugees - that is the real problem. " I remind him that those responsible for the recent attacks in France were French. "French on paper," he replies. "And perhaps today we are offering nationality to those who do not deserve it. " On a bench in front of Mr Rachline's town hall, four Muslim women sit watching me work. They can guess why I am here. "Just because we are Muslims, it does not mean we are not crying with you, crying with the French," one head-scarfed older lady tells me sadly. "The people who commit these crimes are monsters, not Muslims. "But you know, dear," she says, catching my hand, "everyone of us must do his best to carry on living through these times. " She nods to the restaurant-heavy square in front of us, where little children twirl and dance in front of the live band. "You go now and have a lovely evening. " The band's singer seems uncertain as to how he might best please his audience and flits frenetically between crooning French chanson numbers and lively American pop. The right-wing Republicans (LR) have a similar dilemma in finding an appealing voice to present at next year's presidential elections. In 2007, moving further to the right and focusing on security issues hot on the heels of the 2005 riots won Mr Sarkozy the election. But a similar approach this time could see the LR simply drowned out by the stronger voice of the FN. And few people like the cover track as much as the original. "It's true that the FN is gaining ground a little here - but it's not true that Nicolas Sarkozy imitates the Front National, we have concrete proposals," says Jeremy Campofranco, who leads the young Republicans group in the Var region. "Security is a problem for all of us, and we can't just let that subject belong to the FN. " This November, the LR will be holding primaries to choose its presidential candidate. The two frontrunners are the pugilistic Mr Sarkozy and the former French Prime Minister and more harmonising figure Alain Juppe, whose popularity extends beyond the right. Mr Campofranco will not say which candidate he will be backing but warns that whoever the winner is, everyone will need to unite behind him. "So that we don't leave the door open to the extreme right," he says, raising his eyebrows at me and smiling wryly. The seaside borders of Frejus bleed into neighbouring St Raphael, and it is from there I board a boat to St Tropez - that cosmopolitan, glitzy playground of the rich and famous where, nonetheless, 48% of the town voted FN in last December's regional elections. I turn when I hear a local family seated behind me discussing politics. Mrs Melchior tells me she will happily vote for Ms Le Pen because it is time someone was tougher on crime. "She will not be able to do everything she wants, like closing the borders or leaving the euro," she says, waving her hand dismissively. "But when she is elected, she will give us a safer life. " The younger members of the family begin to argue. One family member admits he is also tempted to vote FN for the first time, in the wake of the attacks. And a female family member scowls at him. "Security is the most important thing now," she tells him. "But we should not vote for a president just thinking about security. " Back in Paris, Prof Meyer remains convinced the FN is only a first-round party and that if, as is now expected, Ms Le Pen should be in the second round of the presidential elections, a cross-party alliance will form to block her from taking the Elysee. "But in politics we have to be careful," she says. "If you look at what happens in the aftermath of attacks, it is fear and anger. "And if there are more attacks, we do not know what will happen. " You can hear Emma Jane Kirby's report for the PM programme on the BBC Radio 4 website.

2016-08-05 04:14 By Emma www.bbc.co.uk

84 The giant benches that make adults feel like children When US-born Chris Bangle moved from Germany to the tiny Italian village of Clavesana in 2009, he waved goodbye to a 17-year career as Chief of Design for BMW. It was a huge change for him, but his arrival also had an impact on his new neighbours, writes Dany Mitzman. Fed up with designing cars for the elite, Chris Bangle wanted to create something for everyone, and something more in tune with nature. One idea he hit upon was a bench - a giant one, far bigger than a normal park bench - and together with his wife, Catherine, he set up The Big Bench Community Project. The project encourages the installation of colourful benches in publicly accessible spots with breathtaking views. When you sit on one, legs dangling beneath you, you feel like a child again and experience the wonders of the world around you with a fresh perspective - that, anyway, is Bangle's intention. The benches are also so big that there's plenty of space to share them, and to interact with friends or strangers. There are now 19 privately financed benches, thanks to the Bangles' efforts, many in the Langhe, the hilly area of Piedmont, in north-west Italy, where Clavesana is located. But you won't find an app with a map to guide you to each location - part of the Big Bench experience is to discover them, and the views they offer, like treasure in a hunt. Angelo and Daria came from Venice to see the benches, having read about them in the newspaper. "They're quite hidden and not that easy to find," says Angelo. "I imagined they'd be closer to the road but this is much nicer because you have to seek them out. "The idea is lovely because you really feel like you become part of the landscape, which is something that doesn't normally happen. Sitting up here you ask yourself, 'Why am I so small and out of proportion?' You know it should be that way but you often take things for granted and think that you drive everything. Up here in this context you question this, and have to admit that you are actually less significant. " Rinalda doesn't have far to go to get to the Big Yellow Bench as it stands in the gardens of her family-run farmhouse hotel and restaurant, but most of the time she is too busy to clamber up on to it - in fact this is only the second time she has done it. "It's true what people say: when you get up here you feel like a child again. I dream of having the time to sit here, relax and enjoy the view. " "Not touching the ground with your feet is a strong sensation because it really does take you back to being a child as it's not normally a sensation you have as an adult when you sit," says Paolo, sitting beside Chris. "It's a very simple concept," he says. "Contemporary art is often difficult to understand but in this case the emotions are the same for everyone. It's not like when you say, 'Ooh, I can see a lion in this,' and someone else says, 'I can see a tiger.' Here it's the same for everyone, and I think that's its greatest success. " This pale blue bench was built by the Italian League of the Deaf from the town of Alba, famous for its truffles. Corrado and his friends discovered the big benches while out walking and decided, as a community of 40 deaf people, they'd like to construct one. Their group self-financed with the help of other deaf communities - some donations coming from as far afield as Sweden. Many of them put their hand prints underneath the bench in different coloured paint. Corrado hopes the silence of the place will encourage hearing people to think about what it would be to be deaf. "This place can be useful for hearing people to come up and try not talking, try signing and understand what it means. And it's very connected to nature so you can come here and hear nothing," he says. He has told his wife he would like his ashes to be scattered here when he dies. The Big White Bench was built by the Torion Association, from the village of Vezza d'Alba. After clearing the hill of overgrown pine woods, the group discovered the old tower, which had been hidden by the woods. They chose it as the location for their bench. Situated at the top of a high hill overlooking their village, they financed the bench, a matching picnic table just behind it, street lighting, and a water fountain for thirsty big-bench pilgrims. The Big Apricot Bench in the village of Costigliole Saluzzo is the most recently built of the 19 big benches. The industrial equipment business owned by eight-year-old Noemi's grandfather made the bench's metal frame. "I like the bench a lot because it's really high up," she says. The Big Blue Bench, is located in the Gallo family vineyard, which dates back to 1795. Their only comment: "Cheers! " Photographs by MariaGrazia Moncada Listen to Chris Bangle explain why he started the Big Bench Project on Outlook, on the BBC World Service

2016-08-05 04:14 www.bbc.co.uk

85 Argentine rights group head Hebe de Bonafini faces arrest An Argentine judge has ordered the arrest of the head of the human rights group, Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. Hebe de Bonafini has refused twice to appear in court to give evidence over the alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars from a low- income housing project. Mrs Bonafini, who is 87, is not personally accused in the case. Her organisation has been leading the fight for justice for victims of the 1976-83 military regime in Argentina. Later, it became a close ally of the former president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. US to release "dirty war" documents Police were dispatched to escort Hebe de Bonafini, who is 87 and has refused twice to appear in court to give evidence. But she apparently managed to avoid them and boarded a mini-van bound for the Plaza de Mayo. The square in front of the presidential palace is the site where the Mothers and their sister group, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, have marched in protest every Thursday since 1977. Mrs Bonafini has two sons who were "disappeared" by the military government. More recently, the Mothers have said that they want to do some of the work their children, who were mostly left-wing activists, would have ended up doing if they were alive. They launched a $53m (£40m) programme to build housing, schools and health centres in low-income neighbourhoods. The project was abruptly halted in 2011. Prosecutors are investigating the diversion of millions of dollars from the project. 2016-08-05 04:14 www.bbc.co.uk

86 Peru president works out with cabinet in public Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and most of his cabinet have surprised bystanders by beginning their first weekly meeting with a short exercise session in the square outside the government palace in Lima. President Kuczynski (top right), who is 77, was seen in sports clothing working out to loud electronic music alongside his younger ministers with the help of two instructors. "We want to promote health, a healthy mind and a healthy body," Mr Kuczynski told reporters. Minister of Health Patricia Garcia said the session would happen every week and was designed to encourage Peruvians to exercise for health and to reduce obesity. Two ministers were missing, including Education Minister Jaime Saavedra, who arrived in a suit and tie and joked that he would indeed encourage physical education during his administration. Absent also was Minister of Agriculture Jose Manuel Hernandez Calderon, who arrived on crutches after damaging his leg.

2016-08-05 04:14 www.bbc.co.uk

87 Will Nigeria's divided Boko Haram be more or less dangerous? Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram now has two rival leaders. Nigeria analyst Andrew Walker looks at whether the split will make it more or less dangerous. His face became synonymous with terrible violence, his gravel-voiced rants of bloodcurdling ferocity were the hallmark of his group. Until this week Abubakar Shekau was the acknowledged leader of the Islamist insurgency in north-east Nigeria. Now his position has been usurped by a softly-spoken man whose only propaganda video appearance to date was faceless, obscured behind a blob of digital blur. It seems Shekau and new leader Abu Musab al- Barnawi could not be more different men, and reports about the new leader of the Islamic State group's West Africa Province indicate these are not just a matter of presentation. It is as yet unclear which leader presents the more terrifying prospect for the future of the Islamist movement known colloquially as Boko Haram, meaning "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language. The split between the Shekau and al-Barnawi factions is about the degree of ferocity with which the group has pursued its bloody campaign. Shekau, a former lieutenant of the movement's founder Mohammed Yusuf, is absolute in his approach. According to Shekau, everyone who refuses to submit to the group is an unbeliever, deserving of death. This includes Muslims, who have frequently been targets in the north-east, sometimes even as they prayed. As their fight picked up momentum under Shekau's leadership, Boko Haram opened its doors to a wide array of brutally violent people. Stories of forced cannibalism and blood ritual taking place in Boko Haram camps have been widespread in recent years. These stories have clearly reached the ears of the Islamic State, which is led by Salafists who seek to return life to the way it was in the community of the Prophet Muhammad. Such actions are repellent even to those with a taste for brutal public atrocities. In his interview in the Islamic State's Arabic-language magazine al-Nabaa, al-Barnawi said that there should be no more attacks on mosques, that the real unbelievers and polytheists should be the targets of future attacks. Infighting among the group had been long expected. Even after its pledge of allegiance to the so-called Islamic State in 2015, it was hoped infighting would be an indication the group's powers were waning. Even legitimate multinational corporations have trouble keeping their Nigerian operations in line. They often struggle with the factors that have spelled doom for Nigeria's institutions in the past; derailed by an ingrained tendency toward ethnic chauvinism and the predisposition of leaders to capture institutions in order to fulfil personal ambitions. Many had hoped that, as things so often go in the wider Nigerian experience, so it will also prove inside the Islamic State's West African outfit. But al-Barnawi has deep local connections. Barnawi is a pseudonym meaning "from Borno", the state that has always been at the heart of the war. He has what could be a crucial advantage over Shekau in his tussle to grab hold of the reins of the insurgency and putting it back on the offensive. Al-Barnawi is the son of Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of the movement, according to Ahmad Salkida the journalist who first wrote about the group. This has been backed up by another Nigerian security blogger, Fulan Nasrullah, who cites his own sources within the group. Yusuf still has a cache of support, long after his killing by police in 2009, and his direct connection to al-Barnawi means his appointment is a shrewd manoeuvre. Nigeria's government has claimed victory over the group several times and is likely to see this leadership dispute as a sign of desperation. But Western leaders are unlikely to take seriously any assertion that this is the last gasp of a dying insurgency. In choosing one of Yusuf's sons, the Islamic State has shown they understand the importance of continuity of a local vision to their allies. Concern will intensify that al-Barnawi and his IS backers will take a more international, outward-looking path. With airstrikes on IS in Libya and pressure on them in Syria and Iraq continuing, the question remains as to what material support IS will give al- Barnawi, beyond space in their magazine. Even a small band of die-hards can cause great carnage, and their capability to reach Western targets is likely to be strenuously re-examined. Andrew Walker is the author of Eat the Heard of the Infidel, about the Boko Haram insurgency in north-east Nigeria

2016-08-05 04:14 www.bbc.co.uk

88 The museum in India that shrinks you India's first Click Art Museum, in the southern city of Chennai, has been visited by more than 47,000 people since its opening in April. The BBC's Geeta Pandey takes a peek into this world of wonders to find out why it is drawing in the crowds. Delightful squeals welcome me as I step into this museum on the East Coast Road. Once inside, I feel like Alice in Wonderland. There is Adam stepping out of the frame to hand over an apple as Eve watches, Atlas is gifting away a massive diamond and Monalisa is pouring a steaming cup of coffee. You can take a selfie with a chimp and play with a dolphin. And before you leave, you can also collect your Oscar trophy. But hang on, the journey is fraught with danger too - can you prevent your body from being cut into halves? Are you brave enough to fight the huge snake that's slithered up right behind you? Can you fight the bull that's charging towards you? And can you survive Bruce Lee's lethal kick? To contemplate my survival strategy, I sat down on the nearest chair. It was a bad idea - I got shrunk! The museum has 24 artworks on display, which have been created using 3D paintings and optical illusion. They offer the viewer an opportunity to interact and become part of the scenery. Tamil artist AP Shreethar, who has created all the exhibits, says he drew inspiration from similar click art galleries in Singapore, Malaysia, Phuket and Hong Kong and that it took him three and a half years to put together this museum. "Art galleries in southern India are generally very boring. Not many people are interested in art and few visit an exhibition," he told the BBC. The museum has had more than 47,000 visitors since it opened its doors on 14 April. Entry is ticketed at 150 rupees ($2.24; £1.68) for adults and 100 rupees for children - which is not cheap, but it has been no deterrent with hundreds of people visiting daily. At the weekends, Mr Shreethar says the museum draws up to 2,000 visitors in a day. The paintings seem to be a hit with the children as well as adults. Seven-year-old Sahasra Rushika and her four-year-old brother Atharva Raghav, who are visiting with their parents from Bangalore, are running around posing for pictures. "The angel is the best, it's my favourite, it can fly," says Saharsa. Nearby, grown men and women are posing too, cellphones have been whipped out from pockets and purses, some are taking selfies while others are calling out to friends and colleagues to take their photos. "I'm an engineer, we work under tremendous pressure. This is a surprise visit our office organised for us and we're enjoying it immensely," says Loganathan P who is visiting with his colleagues. "This place is very nice, and I'm feeling very relaxed and happy. It's taken me back to my childhood days," he adds. As he poses for a photograph with some of his colleagues, I ask him if he's going to share his photos on Facebook. "They're being sent around the world to friends and family now on WhatsApp," he says. His colleague Nirmala Mani, teases him that he is behaving like the selfie- taking chimp which she describes as "the most awesome work here". "It is very satisfying to see people enjoying themselves like this," Mr Shreethar says. A veteran of 64 art shows, held in India and abroad, he says he took ideas from the classics. "We chose Monalisa and works of Great Masters so that people can recognise them easily. " Buoyed by the success of this project, now he plans to open 22 more museums, including in Delhi, Goa, Mumbai, San Francisco and Malta. Click art, he says, is perfect for today's generation, obsessed with photographs and selfies. "Seven-eight years ago this wouldn't have worked. But now everyone has a cellphone with a camera and that has made this very popular. " Mr Shreethar says most visitors take 50 to 60 pictures at the museum and that their Facebook page has been tagged in nearly a million photographs. "I knew the click art museum would be a hit, but even we are astonished by the interest," he adds. 2016-08-05 04:14 www.bbc.co.uk

89 Woman talks about her brother and the sentencing of the man who killed him in hammer attack Sights and sounds as police investigate a quadruple shooting in Tumwater on Wednesday morning. Four people are taken to the hospital after a quadruple shooting and then a standoff with SWAT officers Wednesday morning on Gerth Street in Tumwater. Garrett Harrell retells the story of how he was attacked inside a Dairy Queen in Lakewood Tuesday, July 12, 2016. The return of stolen lawn equipment generates smiles and satisfaction for Lakewood Police and victims. Dugan Lawton faces murder charges in Thurston County Superior Court for the shooting deaths of three people on June 22. Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza announces an arrest in the June 22 triple homicide on Dutterow Road. Son Timothy and daughter Tracy Fabre deliver emotional statements during the sentencing of their father, Milton, on Friday in Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma. The 81-year-old pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter for the fatal stabbing of his daughter, Tamara, and was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison Sights and sounds as investigators follow up on a quadruple shooting on Dutterow Road SE. Thurston County sheriff’s detectives are investigating an early morning shooting near Lacey that left three people dead and one injured. Four people were shot and three dead after a shooting on Dutterow Road SE in Lacey.

2016-08-05 04:16 www.thenewstribune.com

90 Singer Anitta 'anxious' ahead of Rio opening ceremony Brazilian pop singer Anitta says she is "anxious" ahead of her performance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Rio. Babita Sharma went to meet her and get a tour of her home.

2016-08-05 03:50 www.bbc.co.uk

91 Fears in US that money to fight Zika 'rapidly running out' US President Barack Obama on Thursday called on Congress to approve additional funding to combat the spread of the Zika virus in the United States, saying that money to fight the outbreak is rapidly running out. "Congress needs to do its job," Obama said at a press conference after a meeting with officials at the Pentagon. "Fighting Zika costs money. " Obama's comments come as 41 Democratic US senators on Thursday urged Republican congressional leaders to summon lawmakers back from their summer recess to vote on emergency funding to combat the mosquito-borne virus, but Republicans blamed Democrats for the inaction in Congress. Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page. Zika funding remains stalled six months after the Republican-led Congress was asked to approve $1.9 billion in emergency funds. A $1.1 billion compromise failed after House Republicans attached language that would place restrictions on abortion and defund part of Obama's signature 2010 healthcare law. Concern over the threat from Zika, which can cause a birth defect called microcephaly marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies, has risen since Florida authorities last week detected the first signs of local transmission in the continental United States. Israel’s Ministry of Health has issued an advisory for pregnant women and women planning to get pregnant on travel to southern Florida, where several cases of the Zika virus have been reported. The Health Ministry issued the warning on Wednesday, citing reports in recent days by the US Center for Disease Control that people in two counties in southern Florida had been infected with the Zika virus by local mosquitoes. JTA contributed to this report.

2016-08-05 03:35 www.jpost.com

92 Soccer: Beitar, Mac TA await playoff draw following easy progress Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv comfortably advanced to the Europa League playoffs on Thursday night, capping two excellent days for Israeli soccer following Hapoel Beersheba’s progress to the Champions League playoffs a day earlier. Beitar defeated Jelgava of Latvia 3-0 at Teddy Stadium for a 4-1 aggregate victory in the third qualifying round. Omer Atzili, who is in the midst of arbitration proceedings against Beitar regarding the terms under which he’ll be able to leave the club, scored his fourth goal of the continental campaign from the penalty spot in the 16th minute. Itay Shechter doubled the advantage with a solo effort in the 29th minute and German Marcel Heister put the icing on the cake two minutes into the second half. Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page. Maccabi joined Beitar in Friday’s playoff draw around 30 minutes later, beating Pandurii Targu Jiu of Romania 2-1 in Netanya following a 3-1 win in the first leg on the road. Ezequiel Scarione scored the winner in the 80th minute, with Marian Pleasca (57) initially canceling out Nosa Igiebor’s 24th-minute opener. Before Maccabi and Beitar discover who they will face in the playoffs, Hapoel Beersheba will find out the identity of its rival in the Champions League playoffs. Beersheba took a stunning step towards realizing its Champions League dream and reaching the group stage on Wednesday night, registering a major upset to reach the playoffs with a 1-0 win over Greek powerhouse Olympiacos at Turner Stadium. The first leg in Athens ended in a 0-0 deadlock. Beersheba’s potential rivals in the playoffs are: Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic, Red Bull Salzburg of Austria, Celtic of Scotland, APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus and Legia Warsaw of Poland. The first leg will take place on August 17-18, with the second leg to be held a week later. “This is the biggest win of my career,” said Beersheba coach Barak Bachar. “It isn’t only that we advanced but the way we advanced. We dominated the second half. It was amazing. The guys gave everything and this is a great achievement.” Beersheba has already secured itself continental soccer deep into the winter, as even should it lose in the playoffs it will receive a place in the Europa League group stage. As a result, Beersheba is guaranteed 5.4 million euro from UEFA prize money alone. Beersheba, which claimed its first Israeli championship in 40 years last season, is looking to become the sixth Israeli team to play in the Champions League group stage.

2016-08-05 03:29 ALLON SINAI www.jpost.com

93 'I was the campus anti-Semite,' says reformed Muslim Zionist Kasim Hafeez's pro-Israel activism on university and college campuses today, is a far cry from when he was a student himself. "I was the campus anti-Semite," he confessed, looking back to his days as a Politics student at Nottingham Trent, UK. Hafeez, 32, is a British Muslim of Pakistani origin whose full time job now, is working as the Outreach Coordinator for Christians United for Israel. But some ten years ago, he was busy making noise on his own campus, in the opposite direction: "If Israel even sneezed in the wrong direction we were protesting. We held events with speakers who were blatantly anti-Semitic, but we couched it by saying they were anti-Zionist. I was generally obnoxious, loud and threatening," he admits. Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page. Now living in Canada, Hafeez, is due to speak next week at a conference on anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activity on campus, hosted in Boston by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. There he will share the story of his transition from Islamic radicalism to pro-Israel activism - a subject he has related to students of different religions, ethnicities and backgrounds on campuses across the globe. His departure from the UK was largely due to the shift in his politics, and the huge strain it put on his personal life. Hafeez grew up on a diet of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, with a father who frequently praised Hitler. American lawyer and author Alan Dershowitz can take credit for his drastic switch, which began in 2005. "I think it was arrogance that made me pick up The Case for Israel (by Dershowitz)," Hafeez says frankly. "I saw it and thought it was ridiculous. I thought I was an expert on the Middle East, I thought Israel was a Nazi state. I thought I could disprove the entire argument with ease - but it didn't work out way. " Reading the book introduced Hafeez to a narrative he had never heard before. This was the beginning of Hafeez’s journey to the Israel advocate he is today, which lost him friends and family along the way. He hasn't spoken to his father in years and the rest of his family has yet to accept his changed outlook. Despite the huge personal sacrifice he has made, he is utterly confident that he is doing the right thing. "I believe that we are all accountable for what we do and I don't want to look back and think I took the easy route," he told The Jerusalem Post. "Anti-Israel activism has been a huge gateway for wider Muslim extremism. " He says he has seen firsthand how corrosive this has been on the Muslim community. "If I can do anything to stem that - if even one kid doesn't have to deal with the rubbish and hatred that I had to, then I see that as a win," he says. "Sometimes you have to put your own personal conflicts aside," he added. "What Israel faced yesterday, the rest of the world is facing today, so this one of the most important causes of my life and our generation," he said in reference to the growing global terror threat. Hafeez describes himself as a traditional Muslim, and believes his identity helps at times, to get the pro- Israel message across. "I think people are intrigued by fact that I'm not a Jew," he reflected. "There's almost a mindset that if you’re Jewish then you’re pro-Israel so a lot of Jewish voices get dismissed. I think it’s good when you have diverse voices speaking out in support of Israel because it also reflects the ground reality of Israeli society. " Hafeez has visited Israel about a dozen times and the West Bank three times. Of course, he has also experienced a lot of backlash, and learned to entirely avoid certain areas in Nottingham, where he used to live. He’s received hate mail to the point where he sounds almost blasé about death threats. “Yes, sometimes I get very poorly spelt and grammatically incorrect death threats on the Internet,” he laughed. Hafeez doesn't have a strong opinion on the Israeli government one way or the other. He only stresses the democratic right of the Israeli people to elect their government, and said, "no matter what one's opinion is of the government, it doesn't give them the right to delegitimize Israel's existence. " He said it's important to identify what's wrong and what's right on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but flags a "default position" to blame Israel for everything. "I think one of the biggest perpetrators of crimes against Palestinians is their own leadership, by brainwashing, embezzlement of money, etc. Buts it's more convenient for them to place the blame on Israel. " Looking ahead to the upcoming four-day CAMERA conference, Hafeez hopes the participating students leave inspired. "I hope they realize they can make a huge difference. People feel helpless and they don't realize the impact that they can make. That's my one hope - that they can fight for what is right and get the truth out. " Hafeez believes that building relationships and crossing divides is instrumental in conveying one's argument. "It's much easier to reach out to people you have built a relationship with and to tell them your story, rather than handing them a flyer. " 2016-08-05 03:18 TAMARA ZIEVE www.jpost.com

94 Knesset approves amendment to Public Broadcasting Law In the course of the final marathon session of the Knesset plenum prior to the summer recess, an amendment to the Public Broadcasting Law proposed by Zionist Union MK Eitan Cabel passed its second and third (final) readings. This was the fifth time that the law had been amended. Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page. Forty-one MKs voted in favor, three against and six abstained. As it stands now, the date for the launch of Kan – as the new public broadcasting service is called – will be April 30, 2017 with an option for the communications minister and the finance minister to bring the launch date forward to January 1, 2017, providing that Kan will be in a position to broadcast from Jerusalem on that date. In addition, the majority of Kan employees will work out of Jerusalem from July 1, 2018, with the exception of those employed in branch locations outside Jerusalem. The fine which the finance minister will be entitled to impose for every month of delay in operating from Jerusalem will be NIS 2 million in the first month, increasing by a further NIS 2m. every following month to a ceiling of NIS 10 million per month. It was also determined that Kan would regularly report every two months on its progress to the Knesset Economics Committee. Meanwhile, coalition chairman Likud MK David Bitan is going ahead with his intention to present a bill aimed at revoking the current Public Broadcasting Law and instead implementing necessary reforms to the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Bitan argues that as many of the IBA employees have already left and more intend leaving over the few months left before Kan becomes operational, the cost factor of running the IBA will be considerably reduced. However, Bitan will not be able to present his bill until October when the Knesset reconvenes. Yesh Atid MK Yael German noted that Kan was supposed to have commenced broadcasting on October 1, 2016, and should have been ready. Zionist Union MK Nachman Shai, who is a member of the Knesset Jerusalem Lobby and a former chairman of the IBA, said that an apology is due to the many people who worked at the IBA who did their jobs faithfully and with a sense of mission. They are the ones who are now paying a heavy price for the corruption that permeated the IBA, he said. He hoped that those who were remaining under the aegis of Kan, would infuse a spirit of integrity and confidence into the new enterprise. Meretz MK Ilan Gilon, who has consistently opposed any replacement for the IBA, did apologize publicly not only to broadcasters whose faces are seen on screen or whose voices are heard on radio, but also to make-up artists, cameramen, and others who will not be transferring to Kan, and to Kan employees who have to wait longer than anticipated to begin working properly. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who as communications minister set the ball rolling for the revolution in public broadcasting, was extremely upset by recent developments, especially any attempt to turn the clock back, and said that he would continue to devote his efforts toward ensuring that the new public broadcasting entity would go to air as soon as possible.

2016-08-05 03:03 GREER FAY www.jpost.com

95 Big Lebowski actor David Huddleston dies aged 85 David Huddleston, the character actor best known for his role in The Big Lebowski, has died. He was 85. Huddleston's wife, Sarah C Koeppe, said he died on Tuesday of advanced heart and kidney disease in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Huddleston famously portrayed the blustery millionaire whose identity Jeff Bridges' character is mistaken for in the 1998 cult comedy The Big Lebowski. He also personified a jolly Father Christmas alongside Dudley Moore in Santa Claus: The Movie and hilariously played the mayor in Blazing Saddles. Other credits in Huddleston's 55-year career include the films Fools' Parade, Family Reunion and Bad Company, as well as guest appearances on such TV series as Gunsmoke, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls and The Wonder Years. Huddleston was born in 1930 in Vinton, Virginia, and served as an aircraft engine mechanic in the US Air Force before studying acting in New York. He began his career in the theatre, acting in national tours of such shows as Music Man, Mame and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. AP

2016-08-05 02:41 www.independent.ie

96 Barkat denounces National Authority for move out of capital Citing the 2007 cabinet mandate that all national government offices be based in Jerusalem, Mayor Nir Barkat on Thursday condemned plans by the National Authority for Technological Innovation to move out of the capital to Lod, where it has signed a three-year lease. The authority is part of the Economy Ministry and was established earlier this year to replace the ministry’s Office of the Chief Scientist. A statement issued by the ministry claimed it had no choice but to relocate due to a pronounced lack of office space in the capital. Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page. “In view of the shortage of available assets in Jerusalem, and the estimated time it would take to find a suitable building, it was decided to lease a building for three years.” A Jerusalem location, however, is the ministry’s long-term goal. According to the statement, a building plan for the “authority’s structure in Jerusalem has been approved, with the aim of promoting its location and suitability to the authority.” It remains unclear when and where the structure will be built. Nonetheless, the Jerusalem Municipality said in a statement on Thursday that the relocation is unacceptable, noting that such a move, though only temporary, violates the 2007 government decision. “The Jerusalem Municipality calls on the national government to adhere to the decision that stipulates that all government units must be headquartered exclusively in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. “Mayor Barkat raised this issue at a special cabinet meeting on Jerusalem Day, in which he called upon each minister to lead by example in returning to, or maintaining, their operations in the city. The municipality will continue to petition the Supreme Court as necessary to ensure strict adherence to this law.” The 2007 mandate reaffirmed the capital as “the seat of government,” and all national offices. However, a requirement to relocate by 2015 has been balked at by those who say insufficient space has been allocated for such a move. The latest State Comptroller Report seemed to agree by stating that implementation of the mandated plan has significantly failed. The government contended that concentrating all its activity in the capital was a key to strengthening the city politically, socially and economically. Emphasizing Jerusalem’s ongoing economic woes, it stressed the benefit of adding thousands of jobs and hundreds of thousands of square meters of office buildings. The Prime Minister’s Office decision was made in coordination with the Government Housing Administration, Finance Ministry and Jerusalem Development Authority. The director of the Prime Minister’s Office was charged with forming a team to devise a “master plan” to move government offices to the capital within the eight-year window. The master plan called for development of roughly 130,000 sq.m. of land on which to house 95 national units from 20 government agencies. From April-August 2012 the State Comptroller’s Office – with assistance from the Jerusalem Municipality, Civil Service Commission, Government Companies Authority and Planning Administration of the Interior Ministry – examined the resolution’s implementation. The report found incomplete preparation for the plan has caused continued significant delay of government relocation to the city. The Housing Administration has acted in recent years to create structures designed for different government offices. However, the report said those efforts, which include a planned expansion of the David Ben-Gurion government compound, have failed. The compound can presently only provide about 15 percent of the total space needed to transfer all government offices. The report said plans are still many years away from the expansion needed to meet relocation needs. The report found that staff charged with securing funding for construction have failed to do so. As a result, the government decided that the Housing Administration can only authorize leases, renovation or construction related to the transfer with approval of an “Exceptions Committee,” headed by the PMO’s director. This protocol was repeatedly breached when the Housing Administration approved leases or sought alternative housing, without seeking the committee’s approval. Additionally, the Exceptions Committee rejected the requests of the Development of the Negev and Galilee Ministry, and Culture and Sports Ministry to move to Jerusalem. With few exceptions, the State Comptroller’s Report found no substantive action plan had been implemented to encourage government units to move to the capital. This has resulted in a decree instructing the Government Companies Authority to examine which units will be required to make the move. Incomplete plans have significantly delayed relocation of government offices. Among those are plans to secure sources of financing, monitor implementation and even determine a viable time frame, according to the report.

2016-08-05 02:39 DANIEL K www.jpost.com

97 GOP turns on Trump over ‘divisive’ tactics Donald Trump has insisted there is "great unity in my campaign" - although there are several indications that the Republican Party is turning against its nominee. Senior Republican figures are growing increasingly concerned about Mr Trump's behaviour following his criticism of the family of a dead Muslim American soldier and his refusal to back the re-election campaign of Paul Ryan, the house speaker. Frustration at Mr Trump's divisive tactics and insulting comments reached new heights on Wednesday, with several extraordinary developments. Senior Republicans, including Reince Priebus, chairman of the GOP, Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor, and Newt Gingrich, the former house speaker, were reportedly considering an "intervention" meeting with Mr Trump. They hoped to talk Mr Trump into "a dramatic reset of his campaign", NBC reported. "A new level of panic hit the street," Scott Reed, chief strategist for the US Chamber of Commerce, told the 'Washington Post'. "It's time for a serious reset. " Mr Gingrich, a Trump ally, said his friend currently stood no chance of beating Hillary Clinton in November. "The current race is 'which of these two is the more unacceptable', because right now neither of them is acceptable," Mr Gingrich said. "Trump is helping her to win by proving he is more unacceptable than she is. " Mr Priebus was said to be "livid" over Mr Trump's behaviour and appealed to the New York billionaire's adult children to help calm the situation. A Republican source told Reuters that Mr Priebus "feels like a fool". More than any other senior figure in the Republican establishment, Mr Priebus worked to bring Mr Trump into the party's fold despite the New York businessman's status as an outsider. According to AP, Mr Priebus has already spoken to Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and to the Trump children, who are believed to agree that the nominee needs to stop picking fights within his own party and to take a step back from his criticism over the past few days of the Khans, the parents of Muslim American veteran Captain Humayun Khan. Mike Pence, the Republican vice presidential candidate, openly split with Mr Trump by giving his endorsement to Mr Ryan. In an indication of how deep the divisions are - even within the Trump campaign itself - Mr Pence said: "I talked to Donald Trump this morning about my support for Paul Ryan, our longtime friendship. He strongly encouraged me to endorse Paul Ryan in next Tuesday's primary. And I'm pleased to do it. " Mr Trump antagonised the higher echelons of the Republican establishment on Tuesday when he said he was "just not quite there yet" when it came to backing Mr Ryan. He also refused to endorse John McCain in his re-election bid on Tuesday. Both had been critical of his attacks on the Khan family. There were reports that some Republicans were exploring what the process would be should Mr Trump himself pull out of the race. ABC reported that if Mr Trump pulled out before early September, it would be up to the 168 members of the Republican National Committee to choose a successor. In this scenario, there would be enough time get the next nominee's name on the ballot in enough states to win in November's general election. However, there are no indications at this stage that Mr Trump wants to step aside. Kellyanne Conway, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, reportedly said: "I would push back on any formal report that the candidate is going to leave the race. " Despite the animosity within the party, Mr Trump was remorseless, taking to Twitter to state: "There is great unity in my campaign, perhaps greater than ever before. " Mr Manafort also attempted to give the impression that there was no panic within the Trump camp, telling Fox News: "The candidate is in control of his campaign. And I'm in control of doing the things that he wants me to do in the campaign. " "The only need we have for an intervention is maybe with some media types who keep saying things that aren't true. " Republicans' frustration with Donald Trump has reached new heights, with party leaders scrambling to persuade him to abandon divisive tactics that have triggered sinking poll numbers and low morale. Mr Priebus is appealing to the New York billionaire's adult children to help amid new signs of a campaign in trouble. Trump's operation has been beset by internal discord, including growing concern about general election preparedness and a lack of support from Republican leaders, according to two people familiar with the organisation's inner workings. One of the sources said that Trump privately blames his own staff for failing to quiet the backlash over his Khan family outburst. Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood has said he would vote for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, claiming the Republican "is on to something". The legendary actor and director stopped short of fully endorsing Mr Trump for president, but praised him for "saying what's on his mind". Eastwood, who served as the Republican mayor of Carmel in the 1980s, did, however, add in an interview with 'Esquire' magazine that Mr Trump had said "a lot of dumb things". (© Daily Telegraph London)

2016-08-05 02:30 Barney Henderson www.independent.ie

98 Court rules out change to birth register for intersex plaintiff A person with a genetic abnormality who identifies as neither woman nor man can't be entered in Germany's birth register under an alternative label such as "inter" or "diverse," a German court has said. The plaintiff was identified by advocacy group Dritte Option as Vanja, born in 1989 and registered as a girl. Vanja provided the Federal Court of Justice with an analysis showing one X chromosome but no second sexual chromosome. Women have two X chromosomes, while men have one X and one Y chromosome. In a ruling published yesterday, the court rejected a request to switch the birth register entry to "inter" or "diverse", saying German family law recognises only male or female. Dritte Option said the plaintiff plans to go to Germany's highest court, the Federal Constitutional Court.

2016-08-05 02:30 Dean Grey www.independent.ie

99 Sex addiction to blame for my marriage woes - Ozzy Osbourne Ozzy Osbourne has revealed he is undergoing "intense therapy" for a "sex addiction" that nearly resulted in the disintegration of his marriage to Sharon Osbourne. The 67-year-old Black Sabbath singer said in a statement that he was "mortified" at the effect of his behaviour on his family. The announcement came after hair stylist Michelle Pugh told 'People' magazine she had a "very real relationship" with the rocker, lasting four years. Earlier this year, Osbourne moved out of the family home, with Mrs Osbourne suggesting in May that their 34-year marriage could come to an end. After reports of the split, the 63-year-old told US television chat show 'The Talk' that she had "no idea" if she shared a future with her husband. However, the couple later indicated they were back together. Osbourne said in a statement: "Over the last six years, I have been dealing with a sex addiction. I'm sorry if Ms Pugh took our sexual relationship out of context. "I'd also like to apologise to the other women I have been having sexual relationships with. " He added: "Out of bad comes good. Since the press exposed this, I have gone into intense therapy. I am mortified at what my behaviour has done to my family. "I thank God that my incredible wife is at my side to support me. " The Osbournes, who have been married for more than three decades, have become one of Hollywood's most famous couples since starring in a reality television show, 'The Osbournes', alongside two of their children, Jack and Kelly, which gave an insight into their family life in Beverly Hills. Sharon Osbourne (63) was a regular panellist on US reality TV talent show "America's Got Talent" and played out a battle with colon cancer in public. Following Mrs Osbourne's interview on 'The Talk' in May, the couple seemed to be reconciled when they appeared on stage together later that month to announce a festival in California in September featuring 40 heavy metal acts. The festival, named Ozzfest Meets Knotfest, will be headlined by Osbourne's veteran heavy rock band Black Sabbath, in what is being billed as their final North American show, and Slipknot.

2016-08-05 02:30 Eleanor Bley www.independent.ie

100 French in fresh bid to extradite Bailey over the murder of Sophie The French authorities are set to make a fresh bid to extradite British journalist Ian Bailey for questioning over the killing of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. Paris police have issued a fresh arrest warrant for the Manchester-born journalist who has been based in west Cork for the past 25 years after he was effectively charged in relation to the matter in absentia in Paris yesterday. Papers were served by French magistrate Nathalie Turquey at the Paris- based Court of Assizes. This follows an exhaustive eight-year long investigation by the French police into the death of Ms du Plantier (39) in 1996 at her west Cork holiday home. The Paris prosecution will now underpin the fresh arrest warrant for Mr Bailey (59). Ms du Plantier's son, Pierre Louis Baudey, is currently on holidays in the Toormore Cottage his mother described as her dream home. Mr Baudey welcomed the French move and said his family have "waited almost 20 years for justice". However, it remains unclear what will happen with the new warrant in Ireland given that the Supreme Court threw out a previous French extradition attempt for Mr Bailey in 2012. Mr Bailey last night said he had "absolutely no comment" to make on the matter and referred all queries to his solicitor, Frank Buttimer. Mr Buttimer described the move as "an outrage". "We have received nothing from the French authorities and the first my client heard about this was from media inquiries and media coverage," he told the Irish Independent. Mr Bailey will again vigorously contest any French attempt to extradite him over the du Plantier murder. The mother-of-one and French film executive was found battered to death on an isolated laneway leading to her holiday home outside Schull in west Cork on December 23, 1996. She had been beaten to death as she apparently attempted to flee from an intruder at her home. Ms du Plantier had been spending a brief holiday in Ireland before planning to fly back to France to spend Christmas with her family. Mr Bailey was arrested twice by gardaí in west Cork in connection with the matter in 1997 and 1998. He was released without charge on both occasions. He has since repeatedly claimed that attempts were made to "stitch him up" for the crime. Mr Bailey also vehemently protested his innocence and claimed that being wrongly linked to the tragedy had destroyed his life. When no-one was ever charged with the killing in Ireland, the French authorities - under pressure from Sophie's family and friends - launched their own probe in 2007. This was under Paris-based Magistrate Patrick Gachon and enjoyed the full co-operation of the Irish authorities under European police co-operation regulations. This included allowing elite French police units access to the original Garda murder file and the ability to re-interview all the original witnesses. The Paris probe also involved exhuming Sophie's body from the French cemetery where she was buried.

2016-08-05 02:30 Ralph Riegel www.independent.ie

Total 100 articles. Created at 2016-08-05 06:01