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THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 744, 7 - 13 NOVEBER, 2017 PH: (905) 671 - 4761

Paradise Papers: Biggest data leak reveals trails of India’s corporates in global secret tax havens Written by Ritu Sarin, Jay Mazoomdaar, Sandeep Singh The Paradise Papers is the fourth collaborative investigation into offshore and banking assets done by The Indian Express with the ICIJ. Among the 180 countries represented in the data, India ranks 19th in terms of the number of names. In all, there are 714 Indians in the tally.

Two days before the Government observes “Anti-Black Money Day” to mark the first anniversary of demonetization, comes the largest ever leak of financial data. Of two firms Bermuda’s Appleby and Singapore’s Asiaciti with 19 tax havens across the world which help the global rich and powerful, including from India, to move their money abroad.

This cache of 13.4 million documents named “Paradise Papers” tumbled out 18 months after Panama Papers: both sets of data were obtained by German newspaper

Süddeutsche Zeitung and were investigated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) working in partnership with 96 news organizations.

What Are Paradise Papers?

In India, The Indian Express, just as it did with the Panama Papers, investigated these records for over 10 months to come up with the India findings which will be published in a series of over 40 investigative reports

that begins tonight.

A bulk of the records investigated are from Bermuda law firm Appleby. Although not a tax advisor, this 119-year-old company is a leading member of the global network of lawyers, accountants, bankers and other operatives who set up offshore companies and manage bank accounts for clients to do one or a combination of the following: avoid or evade taxes; manage real estate assets; open escrow

accounts; purchase airplanes and yachts paying low tax rates; or, simply, use offshore vehicles to move millions across the globe.

Shining the light Setting up offshore entities for corporate restructuring or expansion in a rapidly globalizing world may not be illegal but it raises a crucial issue: how firms such as Appleby help MNCs exploit loopholes in law to avoid

legitimate taxes in their country.

That’s why Paradise Papers open the door for regulatory bodies to investigate and ascertain the legitimacy of these offshore transactions.

Among the 180 countries represented in the data, India ranks 19th in terms of the number of names. In all, there are 714 Indians in the tally.

Interestingly, it’s an Indian company, Sun Group, founded Continued on Page 4

by Nand

Immigration minister CRA promises ‘appropriate action’ on tax haven use after Paradise Papers leak dismisses Trump security concerns over newcomers

The Canada Revenue Agency says it won’t hesitate to investigate new evidence of offshore tax evasion in the wake of a second massive leak of tax-haven financial records.

The Canadian Revenue Agency is promising

action after an international investigation pulled back the curtain on more than 3,000 Canadian companies, trusts, foundations and individuals who use offshore accounts as tax havens.

The leak, rivalling the Panama Papers in size and scope, involves a cache of nearly 13.4 million files from two offshore services firms and 19 different tax havens.

The list includes a who’s who of the world’s elite, including the Queen, Prime Minister Justin

Trudeau’s chief fundraiser, U.S. President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary, Russian oligarchs and former Canadian prime ministers Brian Mulroney, Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien.

“The CRA is reviewing links to Canadian entities and will take appropriate action in regards to the Paradise Papers,” said spokesperson John Power.

An investigation by the CBC, Radio-Canada and the Toronto Star has found that philanthropist and financier Stephen Bronfman, an heir to the Seagram whisky fortune and a close Trudeau family friend, and his Montreal-based investment company, Claridge Inc., were key players linked to a $60-million US offshore trust in the Cayman Islands that may have cost Canadians millions in unpaid taxes.

The investigation also revealed how Bronfman’s longtime law firm — which also represented other offshore clients — helped mount a lobbying campaign in Ottawa that for several years fought legislation designed to crack down on offshore trusts.

Bronfman denies using offshore trusts Bronfman issued a statement Monday saying Continued on Page 2 he’s never funded nor

Rachel Aiello, Ottawa News Bureau OTTAWA Immigration, Citizenship, and Refugees Minister Ahmed Hussen is dismissing American-style security concerns over immigration, putting Canada’s new plan to bring in nearly a million newcomers over the next three years in stark contrast with the recent U.S. clampdown under Donald Trump.

Hussen called Canada a “world leader” in settling and integrating immigrants, and said despite security concerns raised by some — including Trump — it’s possible to increase immigration while mitigating potential security concerns.

“We don’t have to make a choice

between the two. You can be rigorous in your screening for security, for health, for criminality. At the same time be ambitious in immigration,” said

Hussen in an interview with Evan Solomon, host of CTV’s Question Period, championing Canada’s different direction as the right economic move.

On Wednesday the federal government announced a threeyear plan Continued on Page 4

Issue - 744 (2)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Latest Shared Services Canada outages disrupt border traffic A border-security computer system has been crashing repeatedly, disrupting truck traffic into Canada, in the latest technical foul-up by Shared Services Canada, the beleaguered federal IT agency.

The so-called Advance Commercial Information (ACI) system, which requires all truckers to transmit digital information about their imports before arriving at the border, has suffered more than 200 outages since 2015, CBC News has learned.

Ottawa made pre-arrival electronic submission of truck-cargo data mandatory on May 6, 2015, a security measure partly intended to safeguard against threats to Canadians’ health and safety from dangerous imports. ypically, a truck operator in the United States transmits data about a load at least an hour before arriving at the CanadaU.S. border, on threat of penalties of up to $40,000 for failure to do so.

The advance data is then reviewed by the national targeting centre, created in 2012 to alert border officers to potentially risky shipments.

But the ACI system used to input the data to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), a network maintained by Shared Services Canada, has been notoriously unreliable.

“The CBSA has been experiencing an increased number of system outages and

performance degradation issues (January 2017-May 2017),” says a May presentation for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

Outages increase “During this period, the CBSA

the Access to Information Act. The increase in system crashes follows 79 such outages in 2015, and 101 last year. A spokesperson for CBSA, Jayden Robertson, declined to provide numbers recorded since May this year, but said

experienced 23 incidents that resulted in a total of 151 hours of systems outage time, representing a 142-percent increase over the same period last year.”

“Trucking sector shareholders have been vocal about the frequency, disruption and communication gaps surrounding these outages.”

CBC News obtained the document under

the “frequency of ACI outages has decreased.” He said the agency does not track the costs of outages.

“The main issues were caused by a need to fine-tune new systems and changes in the operating procedures of certain importers,” Robertson said in an email.

“Outages require the stakeholders and the CBSA to manage border clearance processes using alternative procedures that include the physical presentation of paperwork.”

Even so, many truckers have been caught by outages while in transit, unable

CRA promises ‘appropriate action’ on tax haven use after Paradise Papers leak continued from page 1 used offshore trusts, and his “Canadian trusts have paid all taxes on all their income to the Canadian government.”

He also said he made a single loan more than 25 years ago to the Kolber Trust that was repaid five months later.

The loan “was on an arm’s length, fully commercial basis, in full compliance with all legal requirements, including with respect to taxes,” reads the statement.

“Stephen Bronfman and his family have always conducted themselves in accordance with the highest legal and ethical standards,” the financier said in his statement, adding he wouldn’t be commenting further.

Trudeau’s office referred all questions about Bronfman to the Liberal Party of Canada, which said he was a volunteer who did not assist on policy decisions.

Chrétien also released a statement Monday saying any reports linking him to a bank account in an offshore tax haven are false. “While as a lawyer for Heenan Blaikie I did some work for Madagascar Oil as a client of the law firm, all fees were billed by the law firm and went to the law firm. I never received any share options and I never had a bank account outside Canada,” he said in a statement Monday.

The Official Opposition were quick to seize on the timing of the documents. The Liberal government has been waging a public relations battle around its proposed tax changes amid allegations that Finance Minister Bill Morneau personally benefited from sponsoring pension legislation.

Push for new legislation In 2015 the Liberals rode into power on a platform that focused on the middle class and a promise to tax the rich “If Justin Trudeau’s priority was really tax fairness, it’s very curious that he’s done nothing to go after the mega-millionaires

who stuff their money in foreign tax havens in order to avoid Canadian tax, but yet he’s tried to bring higher taxes on farmers, pizza shop owners and other small business owners,” said finance critic Pierre Poilievre.

“At the end of day, we need to work harder, all parties of all stripes, to crack down on those who avoid paying their fair share.”

NDP Parliamentary Leader Guy Caron said part of the problem is the legality of offshore tax evasions.

The NDP has introduced a bill attempting to curb tax avoidance. Bill C-362 would deny tax breaks on a type of banking transaction commonly used in tax avoidance.

‘Helping their friends’ “I think at least we have to think hard about the state of our tax system right now, because it’s broken. It’s obvious to Canadians that lots of people and the welloff are not paying their fair share,” he said.

“To me it demonstrates a bit of [how] politics are sick basically. We would like people not to be cynical about what’s going on, but it’s hard not to be cynical when the people who are promising to tackle tax evasion or offshore accounts or tax havens are actually helping their friends benefit from it.”

During question period on Monday Conservative House leader Candice Bergen asked the Liberal Party to return all the money raised by Bronfman.

National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier responded saying the nearly $1 billion in last year’s budget used to crack down on evasion and avoidance is already bearing fruit. The minister in charge of the CRA said so far the government is close to recovering $25 billion in unpaid taxes.

The Paradise Papers were obtained by the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

to transmit the required data and then getting stuck at the border while CBSA assesses the “undeclared” shipment — and sometimes imposes a penalty, even though the trucker was not to blame.

The Toronto-based Canadian Trucking Alliance sounded the alarm earlier this year, noting that some truckers get trapped at border points and hit with hefty fines because of outages, unable to even turn around and clear up the paperwork problem for a second attempt to cross in Canada.

CBSA officials “recognize there are some issues they have to address at their end,” said alliance spokesman Lak Shoan.

The agency has agreed to refund some of those penalties, Shoan said. And until Dec. 31 this year, the CBSA has temporarily agreed to allow trucks arriving at the border without electronic paperwork to turn around and try again later.

The import system foul-ups mirror recent outages in a separate export system, operated for CBSA by Statistics Canada but — like the ACI — maintained by Shared Services Canada.

Beginning on the morning of June 9 this year, the so-called Canadian Automated Export Declaration (CAED) system was down for more than 30 hours, preventing exporters from pre-filing cargo data prior to crossing into the United States.

“Some trucks can’t cross the border,” Statistics Canada reported in an internal assessment at the time.

Issue - 744 (3)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Consider workplace safety in legalized marijuana rules, groups urge New rules for legalized marijuana need to consider the impact on workplaces and clarify the rights of both employers and employees, say some business groups.

Ottawa has set July 1 as the deadline for regulations to be in place and many provinces and territories are still working to craft legislation, including British Columbia, where a public consultation on legal pot wrapped up this week.

British Columbians offer feedback on legal cannabis Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, said large and small companies need guidance from the provincial and federal governments on how they should balance employee privacy with safety in the workplace.

“For any employer, what are their rights and responsibilities in the face of an employee who is under the influence of cannabis?” she said.

“How is an employer supposed to be able to deal with that type of situation without compromising their business and their workplace?”

Huberman said the board of trade wants to see the provincialEmployment Standards Act amended to specifically address marijuana usage.

Is medical marijuana acceptable in the workplace?

The law does not include any provisions on marijuana, although WorkSafeBC regulations prohibit workers with any physical or mental impairments from doing work that could pose harm to themselves or anyone else.

Impairment prohibited The rules also say employers cannot allow anyone at a workplace to stay if their ability to work is impaired by alcohol, a drug or any other substance that could put anyone in danger.

Those rules apply to workplaces in B.C., but regulations for legalized marijuana should be standardized across the country, Huberman said.

“In every province, in every territory, we want to make sure this is done right,” she said, adding that creating the right rules may

take more time than the federal government’s timeline allows. As business

groups express their concerns about looming legalization, unions have been quiet on the issue.

Paul Finch, treasurer for the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union, said the group has submitted recommendations to the province on how and where recreational marijuana should be sold, but the union does not take a position on legalized marijuana in the workplace.

Several other unions declined comment or did not respond to requests for comment.

‘Increased safety risk’ The B.C. Trucking Association, meanwhile, is asking for what it terms a “legalized framework” for random drug and alcohol testing.

“We recognize that there is an increased safety risk due to the possibility of impairment and in order for the public safety risk to be reduced, we think it’s imperative that employers be allowed to randomly drug test workers that are in safetysensitive positions,” said Louise Yako, the association’s president and CEO. The issue of workplace drug and alcohol testing has already gone before Canadian courts, including Alberta’s Court of Appeal, which ruled in September that the energy company Suncor could continue testing workers at its sites in the oilsands.

While testing is allowed under some specific circumstances, the rules around random testing are not as clear as they should be, Yako said.

“Given the change in the regulation affecting marijuana, we think that employers should have every tool available to them,” she said.

One year in, Donald Trump’s approval rating is far lower than any president in 7 decades of polling A majority of Americans say President Donald Trump has not accomplished much during his first nine months in office and they have delivered a report card that is far harsher even than the tepid expectations they set for his tenure when he was sworn into office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News survey.

Approaching the first anniversary of his victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, Trump has an approval rating demonstrably lower than any previous chief executive at this point in his presidency over seven decades of polling.

Fewer than four in 10 Americans — 37 per cent — say they approve of the way he is handling his job.

Trump’s approval rating has changed little over the past four months, which have included tumultuous events, from hurricanes to legislative setbacks to indictments in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the role Russia played in the 2016 presidential election campaign. The president’s disapproval rating has reached 59 per cent, with 50

per cent saying they strongly disapprove of the job he is doing. While little changed since the summer, both represent the worst marks of his presidency.

He is the only president dating back to Harry Truman whose approval rating at this point in his presidency is net negative — by 22 points. The next worst recorded in that time was Bill Clinton, who had a net positive of 11 points by this time in his presidency.

Trump began his presidency with only modest expectations on the part of a public that was divided coming out of last year’s contentious election. Roughly 100 days into his presidency, 42 per cent said he had accomplished a great deal or a good amount while in office. Today, that has declined to 35 per cent.

Meanwhile, 65 per cent say he has accomplished “not much” or “little or nothing.” This is up from 56 per cent last spring. Forty-three per cent of all Americans give him the lowest possible rating, saying he has accomplished “little or nothing.”

Issue - 744 (4)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Immigration minister dismisses Trump security concerns over newcomers continued from page 1 that will see Canada admitting 340,000 immigrants a year by 2020, an increase of 13 per cent overall.

South of the border, U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking an immigration clampdown and vowed to step up the Department of Homeland Security’s “extreme vetting program” following Tuesday’s terror attack in New York.

The vetting process for prospective immigrants attempts to decipher whether applicants’ views align with American values. For months his administration has attempted to bring in stronger restrictions on travel to the U.S. from a handful of Muslim-majority countries.

Hussen said that he hasn’t heard any security concerns from U.S. officials about Canada’s plan.

While the government says the immigration plan is ambitious, the number is short of the 450,000 target recommended by its economic advisory council last year.

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Hussen said the three-year plan was in response to the needs of stakeholders who were asking for more stability. He said while the increase in immigrants next year will be “gradual” it’ll ramp up in the years following.

“We have heard loud and clear unanimously from provinces, from employers, saying to us, we need skilled workers. There are real labour market and skills shortages in this country,” he said, citing the shrinking gap between the number of working adults per every retiree.

Hussen said that by 2036 the ratio is projected to be two working-age adults to one retiree.

“This is a demographic challenge we have to meet head on... one of the ways to address that is through immigration,” he said.

Hussen denies Trump policy leading to more asylum claims in Canada Hussen also downplayed the connection between the influx in asylum seekers to Canada and the U.S. immigration policy under Trump. He said the narrative that the influx of people crossing the U.S.

border into Canada because of Trump, isn’t the whole picture.

“It’s more complicated than that. It’s not the case for every single asylum seeker,” said Hussen. “Forty per cent of the asylum seekers who were coming through the Quebec border had valid U.S. visas and had been in the U.S. for a very short time. Those were people who were intending to come to Canada regardless.

It had nothing to do with U.S. policies.”

Between January and September 2017, there have been 35,755 asylum claims processed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency. The influx is being felt most in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Hussen admits the influx outpaces what Canada anticipated, but said the increase in immigration under the new plan will help absorb some of the entrants. He also cautioned that not every asylum seeker will be able to make a legitimate refugee claim, meaning not all will get the protection they’re seeking in Canada.

‘Practical limits to our capacity’: Kenney

Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party in Alberta and former immigration minister under Stephen Harper questioned the federal government’s approach, saying there needs to be a focus on successful integration rather than boosting the number of newcomers to Canada “for the sake of it.” “I do think there are practical limits to our capacity to integrate people,” Kenney said on CTV’s Question Period.

“There’s no point in brining immigrants to Canada to face unemployment or underemployment, and too often that is the case. I think they should be a little bit more careful about that,” he said.

Hussen, though, said Canada does integration “better than any other country in the world.”

“The immigration system works, our settlement integration works ... we’re making the right moves. We can always do better, but a billion dollars we invested into settlement and integration this year.

Is it expensive? Is it a huge investment?

Absolutely. But it pays, it pays down the road,” said Hussen.

Paradise Papers: Biggest data leak reveals trails of India’s corporates in global secret tax havens continued from page 1 Lal Khemka, that figures as Appleby’s second-largest client internationally, with as many as 118 different offshore entities.

Among Appleby’s Indian clients are several prominent corporates and companies which subsequently came under the scrutiny of investigating agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Indian names in records These include firms in the Sun-TV-AircelMaxis case; Essar-Loop 2G case; SNCLavalin in which Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was named, then cleared; the Rajasthan ambulance scam which has recently been routed to the CBI and which names a company called Ziquista Healthcare (Sachin Pilot and Karti Chidambaram were early Honorary/ Independent Directors of the firm respectively); and fresh financial links in a CBI case against YSR Congress Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

In the case of one set of companies implicated in the 2G spectrum allocation case, for instance, even the top secret Letters Rogatory sent by the CBI reach Appleby. Besides corporates, the data reveals details of individuals as well: Amitabh Bachchan’s shareholding in a Bermuda company acquired before the 2004 Liberalized Remittance Scheme kicked in; corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and film star Sanjay Dutt’s wife who figures under her former name Dilnashin.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha’s name figures in the records because of his past association with the Omidyar Network. Records of offshore companies linked to BJP Rajya Sabha MP and founder of Security and Intelligence Services (SIS) R K Sinha appear in the Malta list.

At a time when the CBI is making an allout effort to extradite liquor baron and aviation czar Vijay Mallya, Appleby’s documents show how millions of dollars’ worth of loans taken by offshore companies of United Spirits Limited India were waived by Diageo (the company which finally acquired USL).

Then there are thousands of documents on the GMR Group, raided last year by the Income Tax Department, which

uncover an alleged attempt of tax avoidance via a network of 28 offshore entities set up by Appleby. Other prominent Indian corporates which figure in the Appleby database include Jindal Steel, Apollo Tyres, Havells, Hindujas, Emaar MGF, Videocon, the Hiranandani Group and D S Construction.

Global links On the global front, the investigation exposes a Russian firm’s investments in Twitter and Facebook, ties between Russia and US President Donald Trump’s billionaire commerce secretary Wilbur Ross; secret dealings of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief fundraiser and offshore interests of the Queen of England and more than 120 politicians, including former Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. There are also confidential details of offshore traces of spy planes purchased by the United Arab Emirates

and a Barbados explosives company of a Canadian engineer who tried to build a “super gun” for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and investment of millions of dollars in medical and consumer loan companies by Queen Elizabeth II. The Paradise Papers is the fourth collaborative investigation into offshore and banking assets done by The Indian Express with the ICIJ. The first collaboration was done in April 2013 (“offshore leaks”) in which 612 Indians were named as having incorporated companies in British Virgin Islands. This was followed by “Swiss Leaks”, which was data leaked from the HSBC’s branch in Geneva and included 1,195 Indian account holders. The “Panama Papers” came next in April 2016 and the global investigation was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism.

A SENIOR firefighter has been arrested as police investigate reports of thieving from the Grenfell Tower site. Met Police is investigating claims that significant amounts of cash was stolen from homes in the aftermath of the tower block fire in North Kensington, London.

Fire investigation teams and police forensics have been visiting the gutted building for months following the blaze which killed at least 80. It is understood that the senior firefighter arrested by police is a 50-year-old from a brigade based outside of the capital. The Sun on Sunday reports that his hotel room was searched by officers and that he was questioned on suspicion of theft. He was released pending further investigation last night and vehemently denies the accusation.

The first of the thefts is believed to have

taken place just six days after the inferno broke out on June 14. A source told the newspaper: ‘The suspicion has always been the thief worked in some capacity for the emergency services. “A senior fireman was arrested a few weeks ago. It caused shock.” Met Police said that initial investigations show the senior firefighter did not have access to the site during the time that the thefts are thought to have taken place. Yesterday, a factory owned by the maker of Grenfell Tower’s cladding panels caught fire in the middle of the night in an ‘accidental blaze’. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service was called to the production plant of Arconic in Exeter just before 1.30am on Saturday.

The US firm produces the Reynobond PE panels, used as one component of the west London block’s cladding system during a refurbishment.

UK tower tragedy: Firefighter held for loot

Issue - 744 (5)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Trump silenced on Twitter for 11 mins Company says rogue staffer deleted Prez’s account on his last day at work

AN EMPLOYEE at Twitter who was leaving their customer service job at the company deliberately deleted the profile of the most powerful man on the planet in a mischievous act on their last day of work. President Donald Trump’s Twitter account disappeared for 11 minutes on Thursday evening after the rogue employee at the social networking company removed the entire profile. The sabotage took place shortly before 7 pm on Thursday when social media reports surfaced that the president’s personal account @realdonaldtrump was unavailable, providing the error message that the user “does not exist”. After a brief investigation, Twitter owned up and took responsibility for the outage. In a tweeted statement, the company said Trump’s account was “inadvertently deactivated due to human error” by one of its employees. “We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again,” the statement continued. But in a second statement, Twitter confirmed it was an employee on their last day. “Through our investigation, we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review.” Just before 7 pm EDT, visitors to the 45th President’s Twitter profile were greeted with both a frustrating

Ex’s gift turns too costly as man pays with humiliation

THIS young man was living in blissful ignorance thinking that his favourite t-shirt was a loving gift from his former girlfriend.

Wearing the white t-shirt with the word “bhenc***” emblazoned across his chest, he hit Las Vegas, believing he was proudly telling the world “I love you” in Punjabi. However, after bumping into a man of Asian heritage, he was swiftly brought down to earth, as he was informed the word means “sisterf***er”. The unnamed man was spotted on the strip in Las Vegas at around 4am on Friday by a man using the Twitter handle “@brohsen”.

The latter, who knew the meaning of the word, could not stop himself and took a picture and posted it online. He wrote: “Asked him if he knew what his shirt meant said his ex got it for him and told him it means i love you and i think that’s beautiful.”

Libyan group won’t allow extradition of Abedi’s kin

and confusing message: “Sorry, that page doesn’t exist! You can search Twitter using the search box below or return to the homepage.” Twitter users were confused as to what could have caused the brief account shutdown with some correctly speculating it was deleted by Twitter and others wondering if the President did it himself.

Others simply rejoiced: “Donald Trump doesn’t exist according to Twitter,” wrote one, “I was there for the great vanishing of Donald Trump’s Twitter account,” chimed another. “Feel like I need to re-evaluate my life choices after reflecting on my reaction to Trump’s Twitter,” joked one correspondant. “The greatest trick Donald Trump’s twitter

account ever pulled was making us all hope that it didn’t exist,” tweeted one. A short time later, the account page reappeared and seemed to be functioning as normal. Half an hour earlier, he had tweeted a video about his nomination of Jerome Powell to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Hundreds of Twitter users posted witty comments and memes on the social network enjoying the brief respite from the President’s feed. “@RealDonaldTrump finally became president... for those brief few minutes when his personal Twitter account was

down,” joked one user. “We’ll all remember where we were during the 10 minutes of peace while Donald Trump’s Twitter account was down,” said another. “If Trump’s Twitter account did in fact get deleted, that would be the first bit of good news we’ve gotten in a while,” another quipped.

AN ARMED group in Libyan says it will not extradite the brother of the Manchester suicide bomber to Britain. British Police have revealed that they have issued an arrest warrant for Hashem Abedi and prosecutors have asked Libya to extradite him to face 22 counts of murder at a UK court.

Hashem, whose brother Salman killed 22 people in an attack on a pop concert in Manchester in May, is being held by a group called “Deterrence Force” in the war-torn North African country.

Ahmad Ben Salim, a spokesman for the group, said: “We will not extradite Hashem Abedi to UK authorities. He said there was no legal agreement between Britain and his group for this case to allow an extradition. Home secretary Amber Rudd previously agreed to request the extradition from Libya. Salman Abedi detonated his explosives at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in May, with 353 people, including 175 children, around him in the foyer of the arena venue. As well as the 22 dead, among the survivors 16 people were very seriously injured, including suffering paralysis, loss of limbs, internal injuries, and very serious facial injuries involving complicated plastic surgery and two people remain in hospital.

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7 - 13 Nov., 2017

By Andrew Mitrovica Jagmeet Singh is the Jackie Robinson of Canadian politics.

Like Jackie Robinson, Singh has broken a stubborn colour barrier. Robinson famously did it in 1947 after becoming the first black man to play major league baseball in the modern era for the then Brooklyn Dodgers.

(Robinson spent much of 1946 as an outfielder for the long defunct Montreal Royals.) Singh did it 70 years later, becoming the first visible minority member to lead a Canadian federal political party the moribund, quasi-socialist New Democratic Party (NDP).

So, consider this: Almost three quarters of a century after American professional baseball began the achingly slow but inevitable move towards integration, one party in Canada - that polite, strutting bastion of progressiveness - finally and belatedly followed suit, electing the first non-white male or female politician as leader of a national party, with designs, of course, to ultimately become the first nonwhite male or female prime minister.

Canada’s largely monochromatic, maledominated establishment media noted Singh’s history-making with a perfunctory nod of approval and praise. Then, it reverted with laser-like speed to parochial form, and has, since Singh’s persuasive first-ballot victory on October 1, launched a collective, sustained and hyperbolic assault on his character, religious affiliation and allegiance to Canada.

The unmistakable, unspoken intent of this barrage of smears masquerading as journalism is to stain and indeed shame Singh - and I’m not exaggerating here - as a terrorist sympathizer and conspiracy theorist who is not-so-secretly supportive of the break-up of Canada.

Singh is tasting, once more, the kind of bitter, unhinged vitriol that was hurled at Robinson from the peanut gallery when he stepped into a sports arena decades ago. And like Robinson - who wore a padded baseball cap to shield himself from racist pitchers who threw at his head - Singh has, no doubt, fashioned a means to steel himself against the slur-slinging slanderers yesterday, today and for the foreseeable future.

Opinion

The ‘othering’ of Jagmeet Singh In the meantime, a gaggle of petty Canadian pundits and television hosts is busy trying to define Singh by the turban he wears, not the passport he carries.

The instantaneous “othering” of Singh began with a now notorious interview with a semi-retired CBC personality turned would-be prosecutor, who demanded to know if the newly elected leader would publicly denounce Sikhs who post “martyr” posters of the murderous architect of the 1985 Air India bombing, Talwinder Singh Parmar - yes or no.

Why Singh was obliged to answer, and by implication, atone for the sins of others, is a question his CBC interrogator did not address. Still, Singh responded to the host’s prosecutorial query by denouncing as a Canadian - without reservation or qualification - all forms of “heinous” terrorism against Canadians.

Alas, Singh’s unequivocal response was not nearly enough for sanctimonious pundits who have suddenly taken an intense interest in a terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 268 Canadians they rarely, if ever, were preoccupied with in the past. Cue the predictably melodramatic columns excoriating Singh for his phantom “failure” to condemn the poster-sized “veneration” of Parmar.

Like Jackie Robinson, Singh, it seems to me, is made of sterner stuff than his pedestrian and forgettable detractors.

Again, this hysterical pile-on is intended to paint a simplistic caricature of Singh as first and foremost a Sikh, not a Canadian, born and raised in Canada. As such, “the Sikh” must be treated with suspicion since he

remains an outsider whose faith, not citizenship, is paramount to who he is and what he believes.

Usually, these self-righteous pundits and reporters save their loaded, loyalty-laced

questions exclusively for Muslim Canadians who are habitually called upon not only to distance themselves from, but instantly rebuke, fanatics who kill innocents.

Yet, despite ample opportunity, these same pundits and reporters have repeatedly failed to hold other prominent Canadian politicians of other prominent faiths to even a semblance of the same measure of “account” for the easily apparent, well-documented acts of state-sanctioned terrorism visited upon so many other innocents at home and abroad.

Their silence and hypocrisy on this score are as galling as they are instructive.

I cannot recall, for example, former Liberal cabinet minister, supposed human rights “activist” and ubiquitous corporate media darling, Irwin Cotler, ever being challenged

by Canada’s accountability-demanding public broadcaster to denounce the indiscriminate killing of more than 500

Palestinian children by the Israeli military yes or no?

Clearly, the “bravery” of these crowing journalists who applaud each other for daring to ask the “hard, tough” questions has its convenient and career-preserving limits.

But Singh, the Sikh, is easy game.

Not content to tar Singh as a closet terrorist sympathiser, a scribe at Canada’s selfproclaimed “national” newspaper, The Globe and Mail - that, by the way, has ceased publishing in parts of Canada - suggested in a recent column that Singh may be a closet separatist as well.

The amnesiac columnist, Konrad Yakabuski, who once dismissed charges that former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper used racially-tinged dogwhistle politics during the 2015 election as the by-product of “Harper derangement syndrome”, is accusing Singh of pursuing “dog-whistle politics” to curry favour with Quebecers. My goodness.

“Mr. Singh has been upbeat in seducing separatists…[with] wink-wink encouragement,” he wrote. What apparently constitutes the NDP leader’s sly “seduction” of separatists? Singh has simply acknowledged the broad, established understanding that Quebecers have the right to self-determination. My goodness II. Arguably, the nadir of nastiness was reached earlier this week when a marquee, but transparently thin-skinned polemicist who threatens to sue anyone on Twitter who offends his rather fragile sensibilities, took to Twitter to malign Singh as an “apparent Air India conspiracy theorist”.

Please note: “conspiracy theorist” is a hack’s insipid, stale code for “Singh, the Sikh, is cuckoo.”

Like Jackie Robinson, Singh, it seems to me, is made of sterner stuff than his pedestrian and forgettable detractors. Like Robinson, Singh has not only confronted, but vanquished his detractors with grace, eloquence and fierce determination.

By his telling, Singh has done this since he was a boy growing up in rough and tumble Windsor, Ontario, where he faced and trounced much more formidable foes.

Puffing punks wielding keyboards do not, I suspect, frighten Jagmeet Singh one bit.

Revealed: Justin Trudeau’s close adviser helped move huge sums offshore The chief fundraiser and senior adviser to the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who played a critical role in the rise to power of the charismatic politician, was involved in the movement of millions of dollars to offshore havens, the Paradise Papers reveal.

Stephen Bronfman, heir to the Seagram fortune, who was instrumental in Trudeau’s successful bid for the leadership of the Canadian Liberal party in 2013 and the premiership two years later, engaged through his family investment business in a complex web of entities in the US, Israel and the Cayman Islands. Multimillion-dollar cashflows between the three jurisdictions might legally have avoided taxes in the US, Canada and Israel.

The leaked documents unveil a close relationship between two wealthy families who collaborated to shift millions of dollars to the Cayman Islands.

On one side were the Bronfman family, inheritors of the Seagram

distillery fortune in Montreal.

On the other side was the Cayman Islands-based trust of Leo Kolber, a former Canadian senator and powerhouse within the Liberal party Trudeau now leads.

Accountants working for the families discussed the possibility of recasting interest owed by the Kolber trust to two US-based Bronfman funds as “services rendered”, on the basis that the loans were not “in substance (only in form)”. Tax experts say that such interestfree loans would generally be barred under US tax laws.

The disclosures are likely to generate political heat for the Canadian prime minister, who swept to power in October 2015partly on his promise to tackle economic inequality and take on tax avoidance. Last year, Trudeau came under pressure in the fallout from the Panama Papers, the trove of leaked documents from the offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca, during

which his family inheritance was “It is absolutely unacceptable scrutinised. that there be people not paying their fair share of taxes,” the Canadian prime minister said in March, pledging to do “a better job of going out and getting tax avoiders and tax frauders”.

The Paradise Papers put the spotlight once again on Trudeau’s record on tax fairness, only this time the focus falls within his inner circle. Specifically, It is absolutely unacceptable that on Bronfman, one of his closest there be people not paying their advisers.

The two men are childhood fair share of taxes Justin Trudeau friends who in recent years have At that point Trudeau insisted his revived their bond to assist personal assets, which he put Trudeau’s meteoric rise. into a blind trust after he won his Bronfman, 53, raised $2m for party’s leadership, were Trudeau’s leadership campaign “completely transparent”. But he and was was rewarded by being came under renewed pressure made the Liberal party’s chief this year following a Canadian fundraiser with a seat on its Broadcasting Corporation national executive.

(CBC) investigation into a KPMG Bronfman runs Claridge, the scheme to help wealthy Montreal-based investment firm Canadians move money to the set up by his father, Charles low-tax Isle of Man. Bronfman, to manage the vast

wealth of the Seagram liquor empire, which came to prominence in the 1920s supplying the illicit alcohol trade during US prohibition. The distinctive Seagram Building in Manhattan, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, still stands as a monument to the family’s status.

One of Claridge’s clients was the Cayman Islands-based trust of Kolber, Stephen Bronfman’s godfather and predecessor as chief fundraiser of the Liberal party who for decades was in charge of the Bronfman family’s investments. Kolber was appointed to the Canadian senate in 1983 by Pierre Trudeau, Justin’s father, towards the end of his stint as prime minister.

The tight triangle between Kolber, Bronfman and Trudeau was on display last December when a Liberal party fundraiser, at $1,500 a ticket, was held at Kolber’s Montreal home with Bronfman as co-host and Trudeau as its prize draw.

Issue - 744 (7)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Sparks fly after brief Trump Twitter outage WASHINGTON A rogue Twitter employee managed to silence Donald Trump’s favorite communications tool for 11 minutes, drawing mocking praise from critics of the US president - but also warnings it could set a dangerous precedent.

Visitors to @realDonaldTrump around 7:00 pm (2300 GMT) on Thursday were greeted with the message “Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!” Twitter initially said the account had been “inadvertently deactivated due to human error” but later indicated it was done intentionally by a departing worker on his or her final day. “We are conducting a full internal review,” the company added. Trump did not react on Twitter until nearly 12 hours later.

“My Twitter account was taken down for 11 minutes by a rogue employee. I guess the word must finally be getting out-and having an impact,” he tweeted.

The social media platform lit up with reaction to the deactivation - with some calling the employee a “hero” and others expressing concerns.

D e m o c r a t i c Representative Ted Lieu, another prolific tweeter, wrote: “Dear Twitter employee who shut down Trump’s Twitter: You made America feel better for 11 minutes. DM me & I will buy you a Pizza Hut pizza.”David Jolly, a former member of Congress,tweeted that the

Church of England to vote on transgender services London The Church of England’s governing body will vote on Sunday on whether special services should be held for transgender people, the media reported.The Church conducts multiple marriages, christenings, and blessings every day, and now supporters have asked to add to its liturgy a service to welcome transgender Christians to their new identity, reports the BBC.Such a service would not be a second baptism, however, as the Church’s teaching is that humans are made in the image of God transcending gender - and baptism takes place only once.However, others suggest the services would be counter to some parts of the Bible that say that humans are created as either male or female.

employee “could become a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.” But the temporary disappearance of the account - and the glee this prompted among the president’s detractors - drew fire from others.

“Liberals were celebrating for the 15 minutes that

Trump’s Twitter disappeared, proving once again they love censorship and hate free speech,” one popular tweet read.

Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University professor who studies social media, said the deactivation is worrisome.

“This is no laughing matter,” she said.

“This is a serious issue and one of national security.

This incident is a sign that Twitter does not have adequate safeguards in place for significant accounts.”

Grygiel wrote an essay earlier this year calling for “pre-moderation” of Trump’s account “to prevent an accidental war” which could be sparked by spoofing or disruption of the presidential account.

“We need to make sure that an intern cannot easily compromise that account,”

she said.Grygiel has said some accounts which could have “systemic” importance for national security or financial markets should be subject to human review with a delay of a few seconds.

If something false or incendiary is tweeted,

there is no way to take it back, and this could lead to war or a shock to financial markets, Grygiel noted. “It is shocking that some random Twitter employee could shut down the president’s account.

What if they instead had tweeted fake messages?”

Blake Hounshell, the editor-in-chief of Politico Magazine, wrote on Twitter.

He added: “Seriously, what if this person had tweeted about a fictional nuclear strike on North Korea?”

The president has 41.7 million followers on his personal Twitter account, which he uses to fire off controversial and attentiongrabbing comments.

Trump has used the social media site to announce policy. He surprised Pentagon chiefs in July by tweeting that transgender people would be barred from serving “in any

capacity” in the US military, a ban that has since been blocked by a US court.

Trump’s official White House account, @POTUS, which has 20.9 million followers, was apparently not affected by the outage.

After the account was restored Trump did not tweet about the vanishing act until early Friday, but wrote several posts on other topics.

Trump’s critics have on several occasions called for Twitter to shut down his account, arguing that his tweets may violate Twitter’s terms on hate speech or abuse.

Some said Trump’s tweeting about North Korea - including a comment where he said its leader “won’t be around much longer” violated Twitter’s terms of service banning threats of violence.

Twitter responded with a pledge to review its policy while noting that “newsworthiness” and public interest must be considered in deciding whether to take down a tweet.

Grygiel said it is problematic that the president is using a private entity to issue important statements on policy.

“There are communications risks with the president’s reliance on a public communications company,” she said, noting that Twitter has a right to ban Trump at any time.“I would want to know that President Trump has a fallback way to issue a message if the tweets stop flowing.”

Australia cockatoos chew billion-dollar broadband

Sydney Australia’s multimillion dollar broadband network is under attack - from cockatoos.

The National Broadband Network (NBN) company said it has spent tens of thousands of dollars so far fixing cables chewed by the birds.

Australian broadband is already criticised for being slow. According to a recent report it ranks 50th in the world for internet speed.

NBN estimates the bill will rise sharply as more damage is uncovered.

In an attempt to improve Australia’s internet speed - currently lagging behind many developed countries at 11.1 megabits per second - a national telecommunications infrastructure project has been instigated and is due for completion in 2021.

But engineers returning to sites have found spare cables chewed and frayed.

The culprits are cockatoos, a type of parrot which normally eats fruit, nuts, wood and bark.

NBN has had to replace power and fibre cables at

a cost of tens of thousands of dollars each time. So far, they say, they have spent A$80,000 ($61,500, £47,000). Eating cables “would have to be an acquired taste,” animal behaviourist Gisela Kaplan told Reuters. “It’s not their usual style.”

She suggested the colour or the position of the cables could have attracted the birds.

“They are constantly sharpening their beaks and as a result will attack and tear apart anything they come across.

“Unfortunately, they’ve developed a liking to our cables. “These birds are unstoppable when in a swarm,” co-project manager Chedryian Bresland said in an article on the company’s website on Friday. “I guess that’s Australia for you; if the spiders and snakes don’t get you, the cockies will.”

The company says it is currently installing protective casing which costs just A$14 each, that will protect the wires from birds in future and save their three billion dollar network.

Issue - 744 (8)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Could this be the cure for HIV? Scientists predict vital breakthrough in fight against Aids virus Danish scientists believe they are on the brink of finding a cure for HIV which could be used to treat millions of people with the Aids virus.Clinical tests are currently being conducted on a new technique which involves removing the virus from human DNA and then allowing it to be destroyed naturally by the body's immune system.

The scientists, based at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, say the possible cure would be affordable and would represent a dramatic step forward in the attempt to find a cure for the HIV virus which affects 33 million people worldwide.Fifteen patients are currently taking part in the trials, and if they are found to have successfully been cured of HIV, the new technique will be tested on a wider scale.

Dr Ole Søgaard, a senior researcher on the project, told The Sunday Telegraph, he was 'almost certain' scientists would be successful in releasing reservoirs of HIV to the surface of DNA cells.He said: 'The challenge will be getting the patients' immune system to recognise the virus and destroy it. 'This depends on the strength and sensitivity of individual immune systems.'

The news comes just two days after the U.S government stopped trials of another experimental HIV vaccine after

an independent review found it did not prevent HIV infection or reduce the amount of HIV in the blood.The study, called HVTN 505, had enrolled 2,504

volunteers in 19 U.S. cities.

The vaccine was based on a common cold virus that was used to sneak HIV genes into the body and grab the attention of the immune system. With modern HIV treatment, a patient can expect to live an almost normal life, even into old age, with limited side effects.

However, if medication is stopped, HIV reservoirs become active and start to produce more of the virus, meaning that symptoms can reappear within two weeks.

Finding a cure would free a patient from the need to take continuous HIV medication, and save health services across the world billions of pounds.

Do breast implants raise cancer danger?

They make tumours harder to spot Women with breast implants may be at greater risk of dying from cancer because their tumours are harder to detect, researchers suggest.

A review of studies found the risk of being diagnosed at a later stage of breast cancer was increased by a quarter in women with cosmetic implants, compared with those without.

Further analysis showed those with implants had a third higher risk of death from breast cancer.Researchers say the findings should be 'interpreted with caution' because there may be other factors involved, but they speculate that implants create shadows on X-rays that may obstruct the view of experts screening for tumours.

As a result, early cancers may be missed until they grow to a more advanced stage, cutting the chances of survival.

The silicone gel in the implants may also make it more difficult for the breast to be sufficiently compressed during mammography checks to show up any problems.Magnetic resonance imaging may be a more sensitive screening process for these women, the researchers suggest.

Breast implants are the most popular cosmetic procedure in Britain, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. Around 25,000 women a year have them, including a small minority after cancer

Talk about taking it SLOWLY! Giant tortoises Biggy and Twiggy get a clean bill of health but STILL fail to mate after four decades They say slow and steady wins the race and zoo keepers are holding out hope that this is

still the case for a pair of giant tortoises who have failed to mate after four decades.Dubbed 'Britain's most reluctant lovers,' Biggy and Twiggy have lived together at Bristol Zoo since 1975 and today were given a clean bill of health at their first weigh-in in five years.Giant tortoises usually start breeding when there are enough around to force competition so the zoo has recently introduced two more

tortoises into their enclosure to encourage the pair to mate.Female Twiggy, who is 63 weighed-in at 220lbs, 22lbs more than in 2008 but it was 68-yearold male Biggy who really tipped the scales, weighing-in at 440lbs,

50lbs more than in 2008.

Zoo spokesman Catherine Foster said: 'Maybe he has just been taking his time, playing the long game.'There has been mating actually, but breeding is work in progress.

'We're still waiting for the fairy tale slow patter of little feet.'

Tortoises live in a heated enclosure where they spend their days munching high-quality hay and the occasional treat of

dandelion or spring greens.

While they look harmless enough, the lumbering hulks lose their gentle temperament when they are in the mood for mating.

Ms Foster said: 'Giant tortoises prefer to go over things than around them so if you're ever standing nearby one watch your toes.'

Native to Seychelles in Africa, the giant tortoise has a lifespan of at least 100 years, even up to 150. They grow steadily for the first 40 years of their lives and can weigh up to 560lbs.

Large tortoises are among the longest-lived animals on the planet, with some individuals thought to be over 200-years-old, but this is difficult to verify because they tend to outlive their human observers.

Their shell does not serve as protection from predators as they have no predators on the islands where they evolved. They are usually silent but mating males make a hollow groaning sound that can be heard hundreds of feet away.

Tortoises exploit many different kinds of habitat including grasslands, low scrub, mangrove swamps, and coastal dunes.

treatment.The review analysed the results of 12 studies, all published after 1993 and conducted mainly in the US, northern Europe and Canada.

consultant plastic surgeon, said the findings should be treated with caution as they showed a link, rather than causation.

He added: 'This paper does

It found women with cosmetic breast implants had a 26 per cent increased risk of being diagnosed at a later stage of breast cancer than those without.

Analysis of a further five studies showed women with implants had a 38 per cent greater risk of death from breast cancer than those without.

The researchers, from a range of health institutions in Canada, say their review has limitations and more study is required, but there is 'accumulating evidence' that women with implants are likely to be diagnosed at a more advanced stage of breast cancer.

Evidence also suggests their survival chances are adversely affected.Fazel Fatah, a

raise, however, the important issue of possible problems with early diagnosis of localised breast cancer in some women who have breast implants due to difficulty with mammography, although implants do not reduce the ability of women to feel lumps or abnormalities in their own breasts.'Dr Caitlin Palframan, of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity, said: 'The findings are not conclusive and more research is definitely needed.

'We encourage women attending mammograms to inform their screening service that they have breast implants to ensure all breast tissue is completely examined.'

Mia Rosenblatt, of Breast

Bathroom sex is best

Forget leaving intimacy for the bedroom, one group of adventurous Germans has admitted that the bathroom is their preferred place for lovemaking.In a survey for German television channel Kabel-1's 'Adventure Life' show 17 per cent of those polled said that they love to have sex in the bathroom.Most of the respondents were more traditional, with 77 per cent choosing the bedroom as their favourite place for shenanigans, according to a report on thelocal.de. A car crazy nine per cent liked to get their fix in an automobile while only one per cent admitted to mixing work and pleasure and having erotic adventures in the office.The survey also found

that Germans have sex on average 6.4 times per month (that's more than once a week). Most (66 per cent) claimed that they weren't fussy about what day of the week it was, but 18 percent admitted that Saturday was a favourite day for sex.That doesn't mean the respondents were talking about their partners, an equal share of men and women admitted to having had at least one affair, with 37 percent saying they had cheated on a partner in their lifetime.Sexpert and MailOnline blogger Tracey Cox says: 'Bathrooms offer privacy and having a bath or shower together can be super sexy.

But it also works well if your partner has hygiene problems.

Issue - 744 (9)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Trump’s Asia OF visit will be no walk in the park THE LIONESSES SYRIA

U.S. President Donald Trump began his Asian tour on the golf course today, playing a friendly game with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But the rest of Trump's trip isn't likely to be nearly as breezy.

In fact, with the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons program casting a long shadow, the U.S. faces plenty of hazards.

And Trump arrives with his own handicap.

He's widely seen as unpredictable, impulsive and hotheaded, while many see his country as a fading power … putting America first and leaving Asia behind.

The trip is not only the longest foreign visit for this novice president, it's most ambitious Asian tour for any U.S. leader in more than a decade. Over 12 days, Trump will visit China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines. He'll be tested at two major international conferences.

And at every stop, his goal will be to convince "all nations to do more" to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions, according to U.S. national security adviser Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster. He says that's the number one priority.

China will be the main target of the message. Washington believes Beijing still has unused leverage over its ideological ally.

China has tightened economic sanctions against North Korea stopping coal imports, capping oil exports and restricting financial transactions - but it is still by far Pyongyang's main trading partner.

Trump wants more from China Trump has criticized, cajoled and threatened Beijing in speeches and Twitter messages, in an attempt to get President Xi Jinping to exert more influence.

He will try again in person this week, but aside from a polite welcome, Trump is unlikely to

walk away with much.

Xi believes "China has done almost all it can to pressure North Korea," says Zhao Tong

Trump arrives. That's the biggest show of U.S. firepower around here since 2011.

But militarily, it's hard for

from the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing.

Beyond that, says Zhao, "deep distrust between Washington and Beijing is preventing China from cooperating more substantively with the United States." Beijing worries the U.S. is too willing to risk a nuclear war on China's doorstep, while not trying hard enough to find a diplomatic solution.

'No dictator, no regime' should underestimate U.S. resolve, Trump tells troops in Japan There have been whispers of secret, back-channel contact between Washington and Pyongyang, but little progress.

Meanwhile, plenty of sabrerattling.

Trump has threatened to rain "fire and fury" on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who he dismissively calls "rocket man."

North Korean aggression ahead of Trump's visit Kim is building nuclear missiles designed to hit the United States, and experts say he may well be on the verge of having that capability. Trump has shouted back, "we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."

Last Friday, American B-1B bombers buzzed North Korea's coast and no fewer than three aircraft carriers are now descending on the region as

Washington to go much farther without risking war - and massive retaliatory attacks on U.S. allies South Korea and Japan.

With Seoul just 60 kilometres

Still, many in Seoul aren't entirely sure they believe it.

"As a country that relies on all aspects of national defence on the U.S., our ability to veto the U.S.'s decision would be slim to none," says South Korean National Assembly Member Kim Jong-dae. "Besides, we cannot predict Trump."

Trump has further strained the relationship by threatening to cancel a U.S.-South Korean free trade agreement, apparently ignoring calls for closer cooperation with this key ally and trading partner.

Trade with China is on the agenda: Trade is a point of friction with other countries on Trump's agenda as well, many still disappointed at the U.S.' withdrawal from a trade deal that

from the North Korean border and from Kim's big, conventional artillery - South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been more cautious than Trump, supporting the 28,500-strong U.S. force in his country but urging conciliation with the North.

Moon and Trump will smile and get along because they need each other, but they don't see eye to eye. Moon has repeatedly asked the U.S. for assurances that there will be no military attack against North Korea without the South's approval, and he says Washington has reassured him.

was supposed to bring order to the region's economic relationship with each other, the U.S., and maybe, China. Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership soon after taking office.His main trade argument is with China.

Trump will arrive in Beijing complaining about the country's growing trade surplus with the United States. Since 1986, there hasn't been a month where China didn't sell more to the U.S. than it bought. The surplus sits at $273.8 billion US so far this year.

That's triggered more outraged tweets alleging unfairness from

Trump, but a former U.S. Treasury representative to China and World Bank official says the trade surplus is not the issue.

"Economists don't pay much attention to that," says David Dollar. "In relation to China's GDP, it's actually come down a lot."

The "more pernicious" issue, says Dollar, is Beijing's barriers to U.S. and other foreign companies to invest and do business in China. That's another problem Trump is expected to raise with Xi.Among all the G20 countries, China is "the most restrictive in terms of allowing foreign investment," says Dollar.

While China will likely make vague promises about opening up - the kind Dollar used to hear while stationed in Beijing, and the kind Xi made at the Communist Party's recent congress - he doesn't expect much action. "The U.S. will continue to be frustrated," he says.

No co-operation yet between Russia and U.S. on North Korea, Kremlin says Re-elected Japanese PM vows hard line on North Korea Protocol in Asia? Trump 'will use whatever language he wants' Indeed China doesn't think it needs to do much more, says Qingguo Jia, the Dean of Peking University's School of International Studies. And he doesn't think Trump's threats amount to much.

"The relationship on trade is much better than a lot of people had expected," he says.

He points to Trump's promises to go after China, calling it a "currency manipulator," and to impose a 45 per cent tariff on Chinese goods as soon as he became president. Neither happened.

"If you follow the rhetoric of Trump during the campaign," says Jia, "we would have a trade war already. But so far, so good."

Groups urge Ottawa to consider workplace safety in marijuana legalization rules New rules for legalized marijuana need to consider the impact on workplaces and clarify the rights of both employers and employees, say some business groups.Ottawa has set July 1 as the deadline for regulations to be in place and many provinces and territories are still working to craft legislation, including British Columbia, where a public consultation on legal pot wrapped up this week.

Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, said large and small companies need guidance from the provincial and federal governments on how they should balance employee privacy with safety in the workplace.

“For any employer, what are their rights and responsibilities in the face of an employee who is under

the influence of cannabis?” she said.

“How is an employer supposed to be able to deal with that type of situation without compromising their business and their workplace?”

Huberman said the board of trade wants to see the provincial Employment Standards Act amended to specifically address marijuana usage.

The law does not include any provisions on marijuana, although WorkSafeBC regulations prohibit workers with any physical or mental impairments from doing work that could pose harm to themselves or anyone else.

The rules also say employers cannot allow anyone at a workplace to stay if their ability to work is impaired by alcohol, a drug or any other substance that could put anyone in danger.Those rules apply to workplaces in B.C., but regulations for legalized marijuana should be

standardized across the country, Huberman said.

“In every province, in every territory, we want to make sure this is done right,” she said, adding that creating the right

Finch, treasurer for the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union, said the group has submitted recommendations to the province on how and where recreational marijuana should be

rules may take more time than the federal government’s timeline allows.As business groups express their concerns about looming legalization, unions have been quiet on the issue. Paul

sold, but the union does not take a position on legalized marijuana in the workplace.

Several other unions declined comment or did not respond to requests for comment. The BC

Trucking Association, meanwhile, is asking for a “legalized framework” for random drug and alcohol testing.

“We recognize that there is an increased safety risk due to the possibility of impairment and in order for the public safety risk to be reduced, we think it’s imperative that employers be allowed to randomly drug test workers that are in safetysensitive positions,” said Louise Yako, the association’s president and CEO.The issue of workplace drug and alcohol testing has already gone before Canadian courts, including Alberta’s Court of Appeal, which ruled in September that the energy company Suncor could continue testing workers at its sites in the oilsands.While testing is allowed under some specific circumstances, the rules around random testing are not as clear as they should be, Yako said.

Issue - 744 (10)

Punjabi Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their Canadian born and raised, clean-shaven son, 1983 born, Doctor, MD, working as a specialist in GTA.The girl should be rasident Doctor MD or physician, born or raised in Canada from ontario, beautiful, 5'-5" tall, with family values. Please send your recent pictures and bio-data to : sm9058@hotmail.com or call :416-617-1901 ***744*** Hindu Brahmin parents looking for a suitable match for their daughter 28 yrs. old, 5'-4" tall, Bachelor’s degree from a Canadian University, employed seeking a well educated, professionally settled match from Canada preferably from GAT. Please respond with latest pictures and bio-data to : matrisearch7325@gmail.com ***744*** Ravidasia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, Canadian citizen, 36 yrs. old, 5'-3" tall, well educated working as a registered nurse. The boy should be professionally educated and employed, well settled nonsmoker, non-drinker & cleanshaven, Canadian citizen, 35-38 yrs. in age preferably from GTA. Please respond with latest pictures and bio-data to :san1622002@yahoo.com or call :-647-293-6596 ***744*** 26 yrs. old, Punjabi Jatt Sikh boy, 6' tall, working as software engineer in Manhattan, New York city with multinational firm, born in a prominent Punjabi family, raised in Chandigarh, B. S Computer Science from Ny state university at Buffalo. The girl should be Jatt Sikh, US citizen, equally educated. Please send your biodata & recent picture to : nycjatt90@gmail.com ***744*** Match for Jat Sikh beautiful, wellcultured girl, Canadian immigrant, 1985 born (looks like 24-25 yrs old), 5'-5" tall, B. Tech (India), PG Project Management (Canada). Jat Sikh families may contact parents.

Email : dhillonintl@yahoo.com ***744*** Jat Sikh family seek a suitable match for their Amritdhari son, 30 yrs. old, 6' tall, born in Canada, degree in criminology, well settled in good job in govt. The girl should be well educated, tall, with family values. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to : chahal_123@hotmail.com or call : 1-604-830-2371 ***744*** Ramgarhia Sikh family seeking a suitable match for their daughter, 25 year old, 5'-5" tall, Canadian citizen, M.Sc in health science, working in her own field. The boy should be Canadian immigrant/ citizen/well-educated, well-settled.

GTA (Toronto) prefered : harjas1992@yahoo.ca or 647-5011050 ***744*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter 27years old Canadian born lawyer the boy should be Canadian born well

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

educated and employed tall and good family values please email recent photos and information to brarprit@gmail.com ***744*** Well educated Ramgarhia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son , born 1986, 5'-5" tall, Canadian Citizen, DDS (Canada), working as dentist in Toronto. The girl should be beautiful, educated , family oriented and well versed in both cultures. Please send your biodata & recent picture to: tsingh07@hotmail.com ***744*** Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their U.S. Citizen ,medical doctor girl, just turned 40 ( looks lot younger), slim, beautiful, 5'-6", Divorced, No Kids.

Brother, Cousins all Doctors. The boy should be highly professional, doctor, dentist, IT etc, Please send the detailed bio-data and pictures to Calif194@yahoo.com ***744*** Jatt Sikh Gill Boy, USA, 25 yrs. old, 5'-9" tall, clean-shaven , Masters in Computer Science, working as a Software Engineer with MNC.The girl should be American Citizen/ Immigrant, educated and beautiful. Sister/ Brother -in-law are Engineers living/working in USA. Please send your bio-data and pictures to gillsa2690@gmail.com or call 660-473-1039 ***744*** Australian Citizen, Ramgarhia, Cleanshaven ,Vegetarian Boy 6ft currently in Canada.Masters in Accounting seeking beautiful and educated girl.rest of the family living in Canada contact with b i o d a t a & p h o t o s to gurdeep.kalsi@gmail.com ph;604-572-6684 ***744*** Jat Sikh Canadian parents seek a suitable match for their Canadian citizen son, 40 yrs. old, 5'-10" tall, professionally educated, running his own successful business, legally divorced, 20 yrs. old daughter , university student. The girl should be Canadian immigrant between 32-37 yrs. of age, having good family values. Please send your bio-data and recent pictures to : lovely648@gmail.com or call :-647-983-9099 or 905-216-3216 ***744*** Jat Sikh family seeking a suitable match fot their daughter, 28 yrs. old, 5'-4" tall, very fair, beautiful, completing her law degree in the next year from San Diego University (California). The boy should be professionally qualified preferably Doctor/Engineer with family values from California.

Please call :-1-818-515-8782 ***744*** Mair Rajput parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 27 yrs.old, 5'-11" tall, B. Tech in Computer Science (SAP), worldwide computer courses and MBA degree holder, handsome, non-drinker, non-smoker from a very good family backguound, living in India.The girl should be Canadian immigrant/citizen, beautiful, educated with famil

values. Please call :-011-9198888-40493 or 011-91-9855629393 or 416-917-5375 ***744*** Well settled Jat Sikh family looking fot a suitable match for their Canadian born, University educated daughter, 24 yrs. old, 5'-7" tall, running her own successful business. The boy should be under 29 yrs in age, Canadian University or college graduate with family values.Please call :-416-669-2144 or 647-574-2434 ***744*** Jat Sikh family invite matrimonial alliance fot their daughter, 29 yrs. old, 5'-5" tall, BDS degree, working, beautiful, family oriented, living in India. The boy should be Canadian immigrant/ citizen, professionally educated and employed, tetotaller from good family backguound. Brother is Canadian immigrant at Toronto. Please contact from Toronto only. Please call :-01191-96460-91950 ***744*** Hindu Punjabi Khatri parents looking for a suitable match for their beautiful daughter, 39 yrs. old, 5'-5" tall, slim, widow (two sons), presently living in Ludhiana (India) working as an administration manager. The boy should be Canadian citizen/ immigrant and family oriented.

Parents and two real brothers are well settled in Canada for the last 17 years. Caste no bar. Please email recent pictrues and biodata to : ramesh142021@gmail.com or call :-289-878-9285 or 647-8926498 ***744*** Ramgarhia Sikh family seek a suitable match for their son, 30 yrs. old, 5'-7" tall, on work permit, P.R in process. The girl should be educated, sobber & from Canada whole family is well settled in Canada. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: devgans13@gmail.com or call :416-473-2615 (Whatapp) ***744*** Jat Sikh Gill parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 27 yrs. old, 5'-9" tall, Canadian citizen, degree in Computer Science from University of Toronto, professionally employed in the same field, handsome, belongs to a good family background. The girl should be professionally qualified, beatutiful and family oriented. Malwa area prefered. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: balvirgill29@gmail.com ***744*** Jat Sikh family seek a suitable match for their daughter, born in 1988, M. Sc, green card holder, working as LVN in California. The boy should be well educated, Canadian or American immigrant, on student visa/work permit/ visitor viasa can also be considered. Moga area prefered.

Please send your bio-data and recent pictures to : rajbrar.brar1988@gmail.com or call :-1-778-598-5002

***744*** Jat Sikh parents looking for a suitable match for their son,29 yrs old, 5'-9" tall, Canadian citizen M.Sc. chemistry degree from York University Canada, professionally employed in the same University, handsome, family oriednted. The girl should be beautiful, well educated with good family values. Please email recent pictures and bio-data.

Malwa area prefered. Email :balvirgill29@gmail.com ***744*** Jat Sikh family seek a suitble match for their son, 29 yrs. old, 5'-8" tall, living on work permit New Zeeland, M. Sc. Computer, Bachelor’s in Business. The girl should be Canadian citizen or immigrant, beautiful & educated.

Boy’s one sister is well settled in England & other is in Canada.

Please send your bio-data & recent pictures to :simchauhan@hotmail.com or call :-647-544-3370 or 416-6897478 ***744*** Ramgathia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 31 yrs. old, 5' tall, B. Sc. Nursing degree from India, residing in India, beautiful, fair and from good family background.

The boy should be Canadian/ American, immigrant/citizen, educated with family values.

Please email recent pictures and bio-data to :piarausa@hotmail.com or call :1-662-347-9532 ***744*** Jatt Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their only Son, Wellsettled Australian Citizen, 36 yrs., 5'-10'’ tall, Well-settled, Australian Citizen, Innocently divorced with no issue. Will consider divorcee with no issue/ Widow. Caste no-bar. Boy willing to settle in America/ Canada; if required by girl/girl‘s family.

Please send your bio-data & recent picture to:rishampreetathwal@gmail.com or call:1-408-667-2066 or011-61421320730(Australia) or 011-9194096-61399 or011-919426399682(India) ***744*** Jatt Sikh family seek a Professionally qualified US based match for their slim, decent daughter, Dec. 87 born (Age 29), 5’-5" tall, US Citizen (India Born), Working full-time after completing Master’s in May 2017. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: ruble2007@yahoo.com or call: 1-559 301 7276 ***744*** Professionally qualified vegetarian match from USA/ Canada for a Jatt Sikh beautiful girl, ,24 yrs. old, 5’-6" tall, well cultured, homely, pursuing Master’s in Electronics Engineering from Thapar University, Radha Soami family preferred. Please send your biodata & recent picture to: sekhon_ca@yahoo.com or call: 1-559-455-9067 ***744***

Ravdasia Sikh family seek a suitable match for their son, 26 yrs. Old, 5’-10 tall, B.Tech.(ECE), Diploma (ECE), M.Tech (ECE), living in India. The girl should be beautiful, educated, Canadian/ American immigrant or citizen, family oriented. Father Retd.

A.F.S.O. food supply.Call: 1-510303-4135 ***744*** Well settled in USA California Jat sikh sidhu family seeking a match for US Citizen 33 years old daughter, 5'-2" tall, pharmacy tech,SAP IT diploma, innocently divorced with no child. Theboy should be educated,US Citizen or Green card holder,single or divorcee,no child.Please.send your biodata & recent picture to: jatsidhu84@gmail.com or call: 1510-493-0182 ***744*** Jat Sikh parents settled in California seek a suitable match for their clean-shaven son, 1989 born, 5’-8" tall, B.Sc. working as Software Engineer. The girl should be up to 25 years, US Citizen/immigrant and beautiful with good family values. Please send your bio-data and recent p i c t u r e to: dhaliwal2347@gmail.com or call: (916)-233-6928 ***744*** Tonk Kshatriya parents looking fpr a bride for their well settled son, USA citizen, May 3, 1980 born, 3: 37 AM, New Delhi, 5'-8" tall, B. Tech, working in IT, kundli match must. Please contact :-1347-622-6851 ***744*** Jat Sikh Gill parents lookig for a groom for their daughter, born in Canada, 33 yrs. old, 5'-2" tall, Diploma in Computer, Medical Engineering, professionally employed. The groom should be born or raised in Canada, Jat Sikh, clean-shaven, professionally educated and employed with family values.

Please call :-1-604-522-4470 ***744*** Jat Sikh parents looking for a suitable match for their daughter, raised in America, 27 yrs. old, 5'6" tall, Bachelor degree in Biology, beautiful, family oriented professionally employed. The boy should be Master’s degree holder, handsome, tall, and professionally settled. Boy on student visa/work permit may also be considered. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: mksekhon@live.ca ***744*** Saini Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 35 yrs.old, 5'-6" tall, beatuiful, family oriented, Bachelor’s of Arts (Hons) double major from reputed Canadian University, works in finance and economatrics in Down Town Toronto. The boy should be in Canada, professionsally educated and employed from well educated, reputable and urban family background, GTA prefered. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: sainirsvp@gmail.com or please call :-647-297-1925 ****744***

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Ludhiana THOUGH chief minister Amarinder Singh’s government claimed recently that crop residue bur-ning in Punjab has come down by a significant 30 per cent, smoke emanating from the ground indicates otherwise.

Media visited Punjab and Haryana and found vast swathes of agricultural land on both sides of NH-1 - traversing Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ludhiana and further - turned charcoal black. Importantly, farmers informed that after residue from the hybrid PR14 variety of rice was burnt over the last two months, now straw from Basmati rice is going to be set ablaze, which accounts for 30 per cent of the total paddy cultivation. Also, since the weather has cooled down and there is moisture on the crops, there will be more pollution compared to rapid burning of the remnants. Sources reported that in several villages, there was little to no implementation of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ban and fines for crop burning on farmers. In several places, farmers went about their business as usual or with “token penalties”. Incidents also came to fore where lower level officials pocketed part of the money for not levying the full penalty.

Bageesh Kumar, a farmer in Kaithal district of Haryana, said, “Even till a few days back, acres and acres of land were burned.

A member of the panchayat here burnt 25 acres, but was penalised for only one acre. Neither police nor the SDM even came to the doorsteps of many such farmers.” This is despite NGT spelling out definitive slabs of fine for crop burning - `2,500 for less than two acres, `5,000 for medium land owners holding over two acres and less than five acres, and `15,000 for those owning more than five acres.

“More than 80 per cent farmers here don’t know what’s a happy seeder and government agriculture department scientists only teach us how to use

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Punjab fields: NGT

ban goes up in f lames

copious amounts of urea and pesticide instead of healthy ways of farming like mixing the straw in the land,” Bageesh added.

Joginder Mann, a farmer in Patiala’s Bahawalpur, attributed the lack of action to the reigning Congress government’s unwillingness to offend the farming class. “The Punjabi

business community is already seething with anger over GST. Government employees are not being paid regularly as the state does not have enough funds.

They certainly don’t want to jeopardise their poll prospects by upsetting farmers too,” he said.

MANN said in his village, about 1,800 acres covered by paddy

straw were consigned to flames.

“Had you come a few days back, you would have seen only fire everywhere. We couldn’t breathe or see. Our skins turned bad due to the blazing heat,” he added.

Farmer Harkeerat Singh from the same village said, “There is only one biomass plant here which takes our paddy residue. It, in

fact, ends up creating more pollution all the year round by burning it to generate electricity.”

Environment activist Vikrant Tongad, who has pursued the issue since 2012, said even NASA images showed ample crop burning in Yamunanagar, Ambala, Panchkula, Amritsar and Jalandhar.

GOVT SAYS CASES GONE DOWN, 100% BAN OUT OF QUESTION THOUGH their efforts are proving to be inadequate, agricultural scientists and bureaucrats in Punjab insist they have made several “achievements” in controlling crop burning. Dr. Rajbir Singh, director, Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), Ludhiana, told MAIL TODAY, “This is not an easy feat. Rice is sown in over 30 lakh hectare in Punjab and the

burning takes place over a month. It’s not easy to cover this much area or convince farmers to stop a decades-old tradition.” “Despite this, we have made several strides such as selling 1,200 happy seeder machines this time. We were also able to get farmers attach 1,500 super SMS machines to their combined harvesters. A huge amount of straw was saved from being snuffed.”

Happy seeder machines enable sowing of wheat seeds on the farm bed with even standing rice crop stalks.

Therefore, there is no need to burn paddy stalks or provide additional manure to the growing wheat. Super SMS (straw management system) machines, on the other hand, uniformly spread the diced straw and mix it with the soil.

Their cost is prohibitive though.

“Happy seeders cost ‘1.5 lakh and is used for only 15 days in a year. The super SMS too comes at the same price.

Therefore, it’s a big investment for small farmers and many are unable to do that,” Singh said.

While the Punjab government is providing 50 per cent subsidy on happy seeders, it itself lacks funds to incentivise the machine to lakhs of farmers at once.

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7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Morocco architect fights concrete with tradition

TIZNIT An unexpected gust of cool air greets visitors to the new archives centre in Tiznit in the mountains of southern Morocco, even without air-conditioning despite extreme heat outside its walls. That is thanks to the ancestral building methods used

by Salima Naji, a Frencheducated Moroccan architect who specialises in construction that blends in with the environment and local traditions.

Rather than concrete, she used adobe and mudbrick, and built in high air vents for circulation.

“First I look at what’s available on the scene, rather than bring things in from elsewhere,” said the architect who has a second degree in anthropology and who has restored several historical buildings. The priority is always two-fold: to protect local traditions and the environment.

Naji said she was baffled as to why “at a certain time people stopped building with local materials” and how they had “turned their back on this heritage”. Adobe, rock,

limestone, palm tree wood - this is the heritage that she refuses to abandon.

Naji, 47, daughter of a Moroccan father and French mother, started working with traditional construction methods and

in a small traditional house, she has stayed loyal to tradition with a new museum, the archives centre and a community hall.

Despite her aversion to the material, she had to use some concrete to respect Morocco’s

materials for private clients.

Then she realised that “it’s all very well building for the rich but the landscape is in the process of falling apart,” she said.

She started to restore old ksours, or fortified villages, former mosques and communal granaries at the oasis settlement of Amtoudi. In Tiznit, a town about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Agadir where she lives

urban code for public buildings.

“I don’t understand how we can credit this material that has no value, not historical, not in terms of climate control, not aesthetically, and its expensive!” she said.

“It’s cold in winter, hot in summer.”The essential thing for Naji is that “in Morocco, traditions are alive, slowing down of course, but not dead like

Chandigarh SIRSA Police have finally recovered two private diaries of Honeypreet Insan, sources told INDIA TODAY TV on Sunday.

Police, during the sanitisation drive, had seized all documents, gadgets and computers from Dera Sacha Sauda, which are now being investigated. A scrutiny has led to the discovery of two diaries, which have details about offerings, donations,

had allegedly spent `5 crore on funding the violence on Honeypreet’s directions. It has come to light during investigations that Honeypreet had earmarked `5 crore, which was allegedly handed over to the Dera gang, including Chamkaur Singh, who headed the Panchkula branch of Dera Sacha Sauda. According to police sources, `1.25 crore was given to Chamkaur by PR Nain,

income and disbursement of cash. Initial scrutiny has found that the pocket diary was used to enter details about the income from various Dera Sacha Sauda branches. A photocopy of the diary has also been handed over to the income tax department ,which on the directions of Punjab and Haryana high court, is investigating the Dera’s income and allegations of money laundering. Police are also trying to find out whether the diary has details about the funding of the August 25 Panchkula violence. The Dera

vicepresident of the Dera management committee on Honeypreet’s directions. Police had also recovered an unspent amount of ‘25 lakh from Chamkaur after his arrest. He had reportedly told police that Honeypreet was the mastermind of the August 25 Panchkula violence.

According to a senior police officer from Sirsa, cops also recovered another diary in which Honeypreet noted down regular happenings in her life. Sources say some of the pages have details about her film shoots and

others about her relation with jailed Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

In fact, police are scrutinising this diary as they want to prove Honeypreet’s involvement in th Panchkula violence. According to sources Honeypreet had mentioned contact numbers, addresses and names of some staunch non-resident and resident Indian Dera supporters who were expected to help Ram Rahim in case his supporters were successful in whisking him away from police custody.

Police, however, are tightlipped about these details. Presently lodged in Ambala Central Jail, Honeypreet is in fact an emotional, optimistic and romantic human being, and is fond of writing down her thoughts on a diary as and when they came, say prison officials. One of the diaries recovered earlier, believed to have been written by Honeypreet in her teens, had details about her favourite actors such as Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Kajol. She had also pasted their photos on the pages of this diary. Police sources said Honeypreet was an ardent fan of Kajol. Honeypreet used her real name, i.e. Priyanka Taneja, in the diary and also mentioned the names of her other siblings in the diary. The diary had couplets and popular two-liners about love, broken hearts and betrayal. One of the songs in the diary was dedicated to Ram Rahim.

Probe into diaries may sting Honey

elsewhere”.

She worked on the Amtoudi granaries with local artisans, although it was a challenge to persuade the youngest among them to learn old methods.

Apart from being an architect and anthropologist, she has also had to serve as an advocate for the use of local materials and ancestral techniques.

She was warned that her constructions would not hold up to the rains.But she insists that sound construction and good maintenance provide a longerterm foil to the elements than concrete, as proven by the ancient ramparts of the Moroccan capital Rabat where she was born.Her campaign is to find “alternatives to an allconcrete way of life” and she remains optimistic.“I’ve seen people who want change in this country, who want something beautiful, intelligent, something which turns to the future without forgetting the past,” she said.

Elderly UK couple suffered fatal falls on same day LONDON A British couple in their 80s, together since their schooldays, died in their garden on the same day this summer after suffering separate falls, according to a coroner’s report. Tony Williams, 86, stumbled while spraying weedkiller in his garden during a June heatwave, breaking several ribs. His wife Faith, 87, came rushing to help, but also fell in the garden in Welsh St Donats, south Wales. Daughter Ruth, unable to contact her parents, alerted a neighbour who found them lying metres from each other, Tony with a cushion beneath his head, his wife by his side. “It’s a very, very sad set of circumstances and all so unnecessary - just because dad was determined to try to spray some rather inaccessible weeds while it was dry weather,” she said. She said the pair were childhood sweethearts who had been a “great team over 70 years”.

Pimped-up pedicabs a tourist hit in historic Malaysian city

MALACCA Decked out with flashing lights and cartoon characters, with loud music pumping, rickety bicycle rickshaws have become a hit with tourists visiting the historic Malaysian city of Malacca. Once a common sight in many parts of Malaysia, the three-wheelers, known locally as trishaws, were largely phased out as cars became more affordable and took over the country’s roads. But in Malacca, a former colonial settlement that is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Malaysia’s top tourist draws, the pedal-powered vehicles live on.

They have adapted to the modern era in a bid to appeal to tourists, adding figures of cartoon characters such as Hello Kitty and Pokemon’s Pikachu and blinking fairy lights that are turned on at night. Their sound systems blare out an eclectic mix of music, from techno to Bollywood hits and Chinese ballads.“Malacca’s trishaws are unique for their decorations other trishaws, they don’t come close,” said driver Mohamad Isa Mursidi, whose three-wheeled steed was decorated with Hello Kitty dolls and a bouquet of plastic flowers in a heart-shaped

frame.When they are not ferrying visitors around Malacca, the rickshaws can usually be found hanging around the historic central square in the shadow of the Stadthuys, an imposing red building that was the governor’s office during Dutch colonial rule.

A 30-minute ride on a selected route around some of the city’s historic buildings costs around 25 ringgit (US$6).The noisy, garish trishaws may not be to the taste of everyone visiting the ancient city.But for many heading to Malacca, a trip in one of the colourful rickshaws is all part of the experience. “It gives a romantic feeling to the heart at night,” said local tourist Ganapathy Kuppusamy.

Malacca, on peninsular Malaysia’s southwest cost, has a history dating back to around the 15th century. With a strategic location on the Straits of Malacca, it became a wealthy entrepot and attracted traders from around the world.It was colonised first by the Portuguese, later by the Dutch and finally by the British in the 19th century, when it became part of the Straits Settlements with Penang, in modern-day Malaysia, and Singapore.

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7 - 13 Nov., 2017

The micro chip that will save your memory Scientists set to implant device to preserve experiences into BRAINS A group of U.S. researchers believe that a microchip that will help create memories in damaged brains could be implanted into human volunteers

scientists admit that electronics work is needed to create a device but are buoyed by an increasing acceptance of electrode implants in humans for treating conditions like epilepsy.

The group is excited by their discoveries and think that a

in the next two years.The scientists from the University of Southern California, Wake Forest University, and others, have been looking into the hippocampus - the part of the brain that is vital in forming longterm memories - for around a decade.

They believe that they have worked out how memories are made, enabling the production of an implant that could aid people with localized brain injuries, stroke victims and, ultimately, Alzheimer's.As reported by CNN, the researchers have already experimented on rat and monkey brains, proving that brain messages can be replicated by electrical signals from a silicon chip.The

memory device that could reproduce memory processes will be available to patients in five to ten years.Professor Ted Berger, a neuroscientist and biomedical engineer at the University of Southern California, told MIT Technology Review: 'We're not putting individual memories back into the brain. We're putting in the capacity to generate memories.'Berger said to CNN: 'I never thought I'd see this in my lifetime. I might not benefit from it myself but my kids will.'Rob Hampson, a physiology and pharmacology professor at Wake Forest University, added.

'We keep pushing forward, every time I put an estimate on it, it gets shorter and shorter.'

Nature’s time

CAPSULE Museum unveils the incredible history of ‘Jurassic Park’ amber and how it is still helping us learn about the past Amber's incredible beauty and unique ability to preserve fragments of history are the subject of a new exhibition at a Scottish museum.

Visitors to the National Museum of Scotland will be able to marvel at real-life pieces of history in the Amazing Amber exhibition - and the amber-topped cane from Jurassic Park that made the material famous.

The fossilised tree resin sometimes contains prehistoric insects and plant life caught in the sticky fluid millions of years ago.

Alongside hundreds of real pieces, the Edinburgh museum will also feature the iconic walking cane from the 1993 movie Jurassic Park, in which DNA retrieved from a mosquito trapped in amber was used to clone dinosaurs.

The exhibition explores the many facets of a beautiful and versatile material that has been treasured for thousands of years and reveals the origins, properties and uses of this precious substance.

It explores how scientists are continuing to make exciting new discoveries based on life forms

Owning a dog can make you healthier

Walking your pet and companionship from them can 'decrease risk of heart disease' Dog owners have healthier hearts than people who don't have pets, research suggests.

And those who already have cardiac problems may be more

likely to survive if they have the companionship of a pet.

The American Heart Association reviewed studies from around the world and concluded pet ownership, particularly dog

ownership, 'is probably associated with a decreased risk of heart disease'. The strongest data comes from studies which show that dog owners walk far more than other people.Research also credits pets with relieving stress and having a beneficial

effect on obesity and cholesterol levels. Glenn Levine, who led the study, said there may also be a psychological benefit from simple companionship. The American Heart Association said the research doesn't actually prove that the benefits come directly from the pets.

For instance, it may be that healthier people are particularly likely to be animal lovers.

However, the links are strong enough for it to have issued a statement saying that pet ownership and, particularly dog ownership, may be associated with a decreased risk of heart disease.

Dr Levine, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, said the benefits may come from a range of physical factors, including exercise and stress relief. Speaking as he walked his three dogs, he said: 'A person may take better care of themselves if they have a good bond with a pet and feel better about themselves and are more motivated to live longer.'

preserved in amber.

Found all over the world, amber, fossilised tree resin, can vary widely in appearance and has

three-dimensional life forms captured inside many of the pieces tell us so much about our Earth's incredible history.’

many different uses.

On display will be pieces from across the globe, from Borneo to the Baltic, Sicily to Scotland.

Used for centuries as a decorative artefact, amber was also treasured for its perceived magical powers, crafted into charms and amulets to heal and ward off evil spirits.

Curator Dr Andrew Ross said: ‘The beauty of amber and the

However, the exhibition debunks the science used in Jurassic Park to clone dinosaurs, even though it did lead to a rise in funding of extracting DNA from amber.

Dr Andrew Ross said: ‘I used to work at the Natural History Museum and we did get funding to try to get insect DNA from amber but we weren’t successful.

Hospital says Chinese political prisoner, Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo’s cancer is in final stages Beijing The Chinese hospital treating sick Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo said on Saturday that his cancer is in the final stages and that a German and US doctor had seen him and offered “full approval” of their treatment of him. Liu, 61, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for “inciting subversion of state power” after he helped write a petition known as “Charter 08” calling for sweeping political reforms.

He was recently moved from jail to a hospital in China’s northeastern city of Shenyang to be treated for late-stage liver cancer.

On Friday, the medical team responsible for treating Liu had stopped using cancer-fighting drugs so as to not overwhelm his severely weakened liver, raising concerns that governments most prominent political prisoner was critically ill.A statement on China Medical University’s First Hospital website said, that the medical team had stopped an inhibitor drug for advanced liver cancer on Liu’s liver function was rapidly deteriorating.

Liu was diagnosed with cancer in May, earlier this year, while he was serving his

11-year prison sentence for allegedly inciting hostility towards the Chinese government.

Liu was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2010, for his

work as an activist campaigning for democratic reforms in China. The same year Chinese authorities passed an order to arrest Liu for inciting subversion by advocating sweeping political reforms. The government has since ignored international call to release Liu and further isolated him by restricting his communication with the outside world.

Liu has not been allowed to collect his Nobel prize as he has not been released from his prison since the honour was bestowed upon him.

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7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Indonesia to open first contemporary art gallery JAKARTA Indonesia’s first international gallery of contemporary art opens Saturday, bringing together works by Ai Weiwei, Mark Rothko and Indonesian masters in a freeflowing modern space overlooking the Jakarta skyline. The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara (Museum MACAN) holds nearly 800 paintings and sculptures, and aims to provide a world-

focus,” museum director Aaron Seeto told AFP.The opening underlines growing interest in Southeast Asian art and comes amid a number of high-profile gallery launches this year outside of Europe and North America.Cape Town’s Zeitz MOCAA opened in September and the Louvre Abu Dhabi is set to open this month.

Seeto said Museum MACAN is uniquely

class gallery to a country starved of quality museum infrastructure.

The collection, mostly acquired by businessman Haryanto Adikoesoemo over the past 25 years, is showcased in an airy 4,000 square metre space on the fifth floor of a city tower. Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago nation of more than 250 million people, is home to a vibrant art scene but lacks high-quality museums.

“What we are offering is something very different to what already exists in Indonesia. We are one of kind in a sense of our international and national

positioned to boost the profile of Southeast Asian art.“We really want to encourage cultural exchange, but also working relationships with other museums around the world.”

Around half the museum’s collection is Indonesian, and the remainder takes in international works including paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Willem de Kooning, and sculptures by Yayoi Kusama and Damien Hirst.Designed by London’s MET Studio, the museum will also feature conservation and education spaces, which Seeto hopes will help

A TINY island that’s rapidly sinking into the sea has won an unlikely claim to fame – becoming the first country to give the Duchess of Cambridge an honour. The Duchess received her gong from the island nation of Tuvalu last week for raising awareness of climate change and to mark a joyous visit she and Prince William made to the isolated South Pacific atoll in 2012. But as she is expecting her third child, the Duchess did not travel the 10,000 miles to be made a Member of the Tuvalu Order of Merit in person. Instead, she was given the medal by Tuvalu’s honorary consul in Britain, Sir Iftikhar Ayaz, during a private ceremony at Kensington Palace. The Duke of Cambridge also

received the Polynesian nation’s highest order alongside his wife. William and Kate visited Tuvalu – the world’s fourth-smallest country – in 2012 during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Her Majesty is

boost the appreciation of art within Indonesia.The gallery’s inaugural exhibition “Art Turns.

World Turns” features 90 pieces from Indonesian and international artists.Works by Raden Saleh, the founder of modern Indonesian painting, hang alongside pop artist Andy Warhol and Chinese realist Luo Zhongli.

Several pieces tackle issues pertinent to current political debate in Indonesia.

FX Harsono weighs in on the treatment of ethnicChinese minorities in his painting “Wipe Out #1”, while Balinese artist Dewa Ngakan Made Ardana addresses Indonesia’s 1960s anti-communist massacres in “A Father is Trying to Collect the Memories of His Family”.Arahmaiani Feisal’s painting “LinggaYoni”, meanwhile, is being displayed for the first time since she was forced to flee Indonesia in the 1990s.The painting, which overlays Hindu iconography of male and female genitalia on Arabic script, infuriated Islamic hardliners who threatened to kill her.Seeto said the piece was an important acquisition for the museum and highlights the future role it can play in fostering discussion.

“Even though we are a private museum we very much consider that what we do occurs within the public sphere,” he said.“The museum has a civic responsibility”.

Kate gets her first gong from a sinking island

head of state there. During their visit, the Royal couple were garlanded with sea shells and carried on a throne by 25 islanders to a field where they danced the night away during what William described as an ‘amazing evening’. Rising

sea levels are the most pressing issue for the island which, even at its highest point, is only 13ft above the ocean. The island’s government believe that unless action is urgently taken on climate change, there will be no trace of it left in a matter of decades. The Queen officially approved the awards to her grandson and his wife. The honour was created two years ago with the help of Major David Rankin-Hunt, who used to run the Royal Collection and is adviser to the hit Netflix series The Crown.

He designed the medal and had it made by the British firm Gladman & Norman. Kensington Palace said the couple were ‘honoured’ to receive the awards.

US govt report to warn climate change is real WASHINGTON The US government is expected to release Friday a major scientific report that says climate change is real, caused by human activity, and is affecting the daily lives of Americans.

The federally mandated report, known as the Fourth National Climate Assessment, is issued every four years.It is the first to come under the administration of President Donald Trump who has labeled global warming a Chinese hoax and named fossil fuel ally Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Average temperatures in recent decades over much of the world have been much higher, and have risen much faster during this time period, than at anytime in the past 1,700 years or more,” said a draft of the report, made public in August by the New York Times.“It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid20th century,” it added.“Many lines of evidence demonstrate that human activities,

especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are primarily responsible for recent observed climate change.”

The updated, full report will

have increased our scientific understanding of past, current and future climate change since the Third US National Climate Assessment (NCA3) was

be released by the National Oceanic and A t m o s p h e r i c Administration at 2 pm (1800 GMT).The Climate Science Special Report (CSSR), which is part of the National Climate Assessment, “is an authoritative assessment of the science of climate change with a focus on the US,” said NOAA in a statement.It “serves as the foundation for efforts to assess climate-related risks and inform decisionmaking about responses,” NOAA said.“New observations and research

published in May 2014,” the statement added.

Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota and eight of his colleagues this week sent a letter to Trump asking “what safeguards are in place to ensure that the National Climate Assessment and the Climate Science Special Report give fair and accurate summations of the latest climate science without political interference.”The senators also asked how the Trump Administration plans to address the report’s findings.

Issue 744 (15)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Sharp & smooth ONE obvious smart way of setting up the remake of a classic suspense drama is changing the climax. Ittefaq does as much, plus tweak a bit of all that goes in between.

So, those of you who might have seen Rajesh Khanna and Nanda’s original of the same name, can still look forward to a twist added in the end. It is a twist that takes this new film a step beyond where the 1969 film ended. Ittefaq 2017 tries mixing the original’s noir impact with cutting-edge swagger. The premise is a murder mystery that pits the story’s two protagonists — the hero and the heroine — opposite each other.

If that sort of a plot made the Yash Chopradirected original seem way ahead of its time, the idea seems unconventional even by today’s standard in Bollywood. Debutant director Abhay Chopra was weekend REVIEWS aware of that novelty factor. The drama wholly rests on the clash of claims

Vinayak Chakravorty By

Ittefaq Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Sidharth Malhotra, Sonakshi Sinha, Manoj Joshi Direction: Abhay Chopra made by his key characters, played out by Sidharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha. To avoid saturating the impact, the thriller is songless, and its location count is limited too. The story basically unfolds over just one night. The film’s interesting third angle is Akshaye Khanna. He plays the cop Dev, who is probing a double murder that has two witnesses, who are also the prime suspects. These are a writer named Vikram (Sidharth Malhotra) and the young

homemaker Maya (Sonakshi Sinha). Each has a different account of what happened, and seems to have enough evidence to support his/her claim. At an almost equal runtime as the original (one hour, 46 minutes), Ittefaq 2017 literally maintains the tempo of the 1969 original. The film, however, succeeds in recreating the intensity only partially. A couple of the spins added seem unconvincing. Debutant filmmaker Abhay Chopra’s adequate storytelling is the reason you do not mind that flaw. A character-driven suspense drama banks bigtime on its cast.

Without giving away spoilers, Sonakshi and Sidharth are required to play out lonely, scared, psychotic and deceptive by turns.

They do so credibly. The man who takes Ittefaq a few notches higher, though, is Akshaye Khanna. His relish at cocktailing wry humour with a hint of menace lingers in your mind till long after.

Ragnarok ‘n’ roll Thor: Ragnarok Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Mark Ruffalo Direction: Taika Waititi

RAGNAROK brings back Chris Hemsworth’s Thor in rockstar mode. The film, third in the Thor saga, retains the franchise’s peculiar mix of Scandinavian mythology and Hollywood swagger. The jokes are smart and the stunts are fun, and nifty CGI sexes up the adventure. The winning formula apart, the new Thor film reverses a few odds, though. He is still the sixpack flaunting supergod. This time, however, he is not necessarily banking on superpower to woo the global box-office. Rather, Chris Hemsworth’s superhero deity gets a novel spin of

vulnerability. Through the runtime of Ragnarok, Thor gets chased out of his world by his own evil sister, is enslaved on one occasion, and also faces a situation where he may not be able to stop the destruction of his home realm, Asgard. The humanisation of the superhero god is perhaps in sync with what other superheroes have been going through lately, but it does add a new edge to the character as well as his universe. A flawed god who goes low on the hammer but sufficiently high on the humour is fun to watch. The idea also leaves scope for

Thor to integrate with a couple of human heroes from Marvel’s pages (Doctor Strange and Hulk make delightful cameos). Briefly, Thor is imprisoned but he realises he must escape to stop the destruction of Asgard. The threat is his ruthless sister Hela (Cate Blanchett).

Blanchett impresses as a comicbook baddie. She is the fiery foil to Hemsworth’s uber-cool Norse god.

Watching the fab cast, you realise again why good writing and direction can only benefit actors in any kind of cinema.

— Vinayak Chakravorty

Issue 744 (16)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Selena Gomez And Justin Bieber Together Again?

Singers Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber, who dated each other on and off between 2011 and 2014, are having a good time together again. After being

spotted together several times earlier, Gomez and Bieber were seen enjoying each other’s company during a bike ride here on Wednesday.

Kate Winslet Worries Over Pressure To Be ‘Perfect’

Kate Winslet says she is worried about the pressure that young girls have in mind about looking in ‘perfect’ shape.

Winslet feels in today’s times, people celebrate curves more, reports dailymail.co.uk. Not so much. We have celebrated curves more in the last five years,” “But I do worry about the extra

pressure to be ‘perfect’ on girls growing up now. I’m obsessed about the misuse and potential perils of social media for our younger generation. “We need to be aware of how damaging to children’s self-esteem and the natural process of growing up certain aspects of this ‘sharing’ are,” she added.

Selena and Justin took a bike ride from her house on Wednesday morning. Justin was very sweet and held up Selena’s bike for her as she got on. They were having a blast together,” a source said. “Justin was singing loudly and dancing with his arms in the air while riding down a busy street.

Selena was laughing so hard she had to cover her mouth and try not to fall off her bike. She clearly thinks he is hilarious,” the source added.

People on the streets were amazed by Gomez and Bieber’s outing, the source said. “Justin was leading the way and giving the middle finger as a joke. Selena was following along and cars stopped to watch them. “They had a really good time together and seem to be able to pick up right where they left off. They got off their bikes and stopped and talked for a minute before they continued their ride back to her house.”

Lily Collins To Star Opposite Zac Efron In Ted Bundy Biopic Actor Lily Collins is all set to feature opposite Zac Efron in serial killer Ted Bundy biopic “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”. The 28-yearold actor will play Elizabeth Kloepfer, former girlfriend to Efron’s Bundy in the Joe Berlinger-directed movie, reported Variety.

Talking about Collins’ selection to essay Kloepfer in the film, Berlinger said, “Lily has very quickly distinguished herself as a major talent in a number of diverse roles in recent years. “I am really excited about taking Zac and this hugely talented actress to some dark but very human places they may not yet have explored.” The movie explores Kloepfer’s perspective during the long time that Bundy hid his murder spree from her when they were living together. Shortly before

his execution in 1989, Bundy confessed to committing 30

homicides in seven states between 1974-1978.

The original screenplay was written by Michael Werwie, which won the Nicholl Fellowship first prize and was featured on the Black List. The production is set to begin on January 10.

Anthony Mackie Wants To Be James Bond

Captain America’ actor Anthony Mackie would love to be the next James Bond, but says he would prefer the character to be more ‘mellow’ than in previous adaptations. At the Comic Con here, Mackie said: “I’ve thought about this a lot.

My Bond would be cool, I mean smooth, milky smooth. No nonsense, no pretence. My James Bond would be a very, very mellow man with the ladies. He would be very aggressive in his fighting style. And his Aston Martin would be a convertible with 20 inch rims and an 808 sound system in the trunk so you can hear him coming. That’s my Bond.” Currently, Daniel Craig is set to reprise his role as the 007 agent in the upcoming Bond 25 movie and already expressed it is to be his last outing as the womanising spy, reported femalefirst.co.uk. A number of celebrities have been rumoured to be taking over from Craig when he steps down, including James Norton, Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Aidan Turner, Tom Hardy and Damian Lewis. Meanwhile, Mackie will be

reprising his role as the superhero in the upcoming “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers 4”.

Jennifer Lopez Doubted Arnold Schwarzenegger And Maria Shriver Still Not Divorced Herself After ‘Gigli’ Flopped Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and activist Maria Shriver are still not divorced, even six years after she filed the papers.

The couple does not have a prenuptial and they amassed a USD 400 million fortune during their 25-year marriage.

According to a source, their business people have worked on how their properties should be split, yet the divorce is stalled, reports tmz.com. “Maria would like the divorce to become final, but Arnold is not taking the necessary steps to end the marriage,” the source said.

Shriver filed for divorce on July 1, 2011, several months after the story broke that Schwarzenegger had fathered a baby with the couple’s housekeeper.

I was eviscerated. I lost my sense of self, questioned if I belonged in this business, thought maybe I did suck at everything,” Lopez told Vanity Fair magazine, reports mirror.co.u. Lopez and Affleck had started dating in November 2002 and got engaged in September 2003. She says their subsequent split in January 2004 was incredibly hard for her to come to terms with, because of the interest that had surrounded their relationship.

“My relationship (with Affleck) self-destructed in front of the entire world,” she said.

Issue 744 (17)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

‘ONLY GROUND INVASION CAN WRECK NORTH KOREA NUKES’

THE ONLY way to locate and destroy with complete certainty all components of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is through a ground invasion, American military planners said on Saturday. That blunt assessment from the Pentagon is in response to a letter from two Democratic congressmen asking about casualty assessments in a conflict with North Korea. Rear Adm Michael J Dumont of the Joint Staff offered the assessment in response to a letter from Reps Ted Lieu of California and Ruben Gallego of Arizona. Dumont noted that the US is evaluating North Korea’s ability to target heavily populated areas of South Korea with long-range artillery, rockets and ballistic missiles.

He also pointed out that Seoul, the South’s capital with a population of 25 million, is just 35 miles from the demilitarised zone. The amount of casualties would differ depending on the advance warning and the ability of US and South Korea forces to counter these attacks, he said. “A classified briefing would be the best place to discuss in detail the capability of the US and its allies to discuss capabilities to counter North Korea’s ability to respond with a nuclear weapon and eliminate North Korea’s nuclear weapons located in deeply buried, underground facilities,” he said.

Military officials would be happy to join ‘the intelligence community to address these issues in a classified briefing’,

he said. In a joint statement issued Saturday, 15 Democratic lawmakers and one Republicanall military veterans — called the assessment that a ground invasion would be required to destroy the North’s nuclear arsenal ‘deeply disturbing’ and that such an action ‘could result in hundreds of thousands, or even millions of deaths in just the first few days of fighting’. “It is our intent to have a full public accounting of the potential cost of war, so the American people understand the commitment we would be making as a nation if we were to pursue military action,” the lawmakers said.

They also said the Trump administration ‘has failed to articulate any plans to prevent the military conflict from expanding beyond the Korean Peninsula and to manage what happens after the conflict is over’. “With that in mind, the thought of sending troops into harm’s way and expending resources on another potentially unwinnable war is chilling. The President needs to stop making provocative statements that hinder diplomatic options and put American troops further at risk,” they said. President Donald Trump ramped up his tough rhetoric against North Korea when he arrived in Japan on Sunday, saying that the United States and its allies are prepared to defend freedom and that ‘no dictator’ should underestimate US resolve. Trump kicked off a 12-day Asian trip and is looking to present a united front with Japan against North Korea through meetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests.

PRESIDENT Donald Trump hit the links this afternoon with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a famed international golfer in Tokyo.

Trump played nine holes with Abe and Hideki Matsuyama, currently the No. 4 ranked pro golfer in the world, after a leisurely lunch at Kasumigaseki Country Club. A senior U.S. official said the men did not keep score.

Following a friendly handshake outside the venue, Trump and Abe signed white, ‘Donald & Shinzo Make Alliance Even Greater’ ball caps before their meal. Their wives, Akie and Melania, met up separately this afternoon for tea. Both also received a lesson on the history of pearl diving, according to the first lady’s spokeswoman. In the middle of his country club outing, Trump tweeted a video of himself wearing a white hat, whacking a golf ball. “Playing golf with Prime Minister Abe and Hideki Matsuyama, two wonderful people!” he said.

US Prez accuses Iran of firing at Saudi

DONALD Trump has blamed Iran after Saudi Arabia was forced to blast a ballistic missile out of the sky near Riyadh. The US President called Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in the aftermath of

the incident to discuss counter-terrorism efforts and ‘the continuing threat of Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen’. Trump said: “A shot was just taken by Iran, in my opinion, at Saudi Arabia.

And our system knocked it down,” referring to the Patriot missile batteries Saudi Arabia has

purchased from the US. “That’s how good we are.

Nobody makes what we make and now we’re selling it all over the world.” No injuries or damage were reported. Trump also thanked the monarch for Saudi Arabia’s military purchases. Only hours before the missile was shot out of the sky, Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri resigned from his post in a televised address from Riyadh, offering a vicious tirade against Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah group for what he said was their meddling in Arab affairs. “Iran’s arms in the region will be cut off,” Hariri said.

Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for firing missile, which was targeting the airport, the Houthis’ Al-Masirah television said. Yemen has been ripped apart by a war between the Saudibacked government of president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Houthi rebels backed by Iran. A Saudi-led coalition propped up Hadi’s government after Shiite Houthis seized the capital Sanaa.

Issue 744 (18)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

WhatsApp crashes, sets Twitter on fire The two-hour shutdown sent users across the globe into frenzy

MILLIONS of users were left frustrated as WhatsApp suffered a worldwide outage. The Facebookowned mobile phone app crashed on Friday and affected people in the south of England, Western Europe and Asia for around two hours.

According to DownDetector, there were problems across Europe, with isolated issues in India, Singapore, Mozambique, Vietnam, and Iraq. Users took to Twitter — firstly to find out if others were experiencing the same problem — to express their frustration, with some using hilarious memes. One user tweeted: “WhatsApp is down. I’m cool. I’m cool with a meme saying, ‘Were all gonna die’.” Arian said:

“WhatsApp is down and everybody is freaking out.” Crazy Citizen posted: “When other apps are working and WhatsApp isn’t you restart phone, off and on data, before coming to Twitter to confirm.” Problems with service occurred around 8am, with 60 per cent of affected customers reporting issues connecting to it.

A further 25 per cent report issues receiving messages and 14 per cent are struggling to login. Some users reported that the app was back up and running for them around 9.15am. It is unclear what caused the service to crash, as WhatsApp and Facebook have not revealed any information on the outage. While WhatsApp did not respond to a request for to

comment, a notice on the app said, “Our service is experiencing a problem right now. We are working on it and hope to restore functionality shortly.” The chat app, owned by Facebook, has more than 1 billion users. Last week WhatsApp hit the headlines as it introduced a new delete for everyone feature, allowing users to unsend an embarrassing message within seven minutes of sending it. The feature is currently rolling out to users on Android and iOS, although it is unclear how widespread and quickly the launch will take place. In August, Facebook too went down temporarily for some of its more than 2 billion global users after a technical error caused a glitch

that blocked access to the social network. Meanwhile, a fake version of the upcoming WhatsApp Business app is available to download from the Play Store. The app, which has been developed by an outfit calling itself ‘Whasp. Business Inc.’, has a surprisingly high rating, despite users describing it as a “fraud app” and “data theft”. One user has also complained about being unable to login to it, with another saying it’s full of advertisements. A fake

version of the upcoming WhatsApp Business app is available to download from the Play store. The official version of WhatsApp Business is yet to launch, and the fake version is reportedly ranking very highly for the search term “WhatsApp Business” in the Play Store. The real WhatsApp Business app, which is expected to launch in the near future, is designed to make it easier for businesses and regular users to communicate.

Issue 744 (18)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

WhatsApp crashes, sets Twitter on fire The two-hour shutdown sent users across the globe into frenzy

MILLIONS of users were left frustrated as WhatsApp suffered a worldwide outage. The Facebookowned mobile phone app crashed on Friday and affected people in the south of England, Western Europe and Asia for around two hours.

According to DownDetector, there were problems across Europe, with isolated issues in India, Singapore, Mozambique, Vietnam, and Iraq. Users took to Twitter — firstly to find out if others were experiencing the same problem — to express their frustration, with some using hilarious memes. One user tweeted: “WhatsApp is down. I’m cool. I’m cool with a meme saying, ‘Were all gonna die’.” Arian said:

“WhatsApp is down and everybody is freaking out.” Crazy Citizen posted: “When other apps are working and WhatsApp isn’t you restart phone, off and on data, before coming to Twitter to confirm.” Problems with service occurred around 8am, with 60 per cent of affected customers reporting issues connecting to it.

A further 25 per cent report issues receiving messages and 14 per cent are struggling to login. Some users reported that the app was back up and running for them around 9.15am. It is unclear what caused the service to crash, as WhatsApp and Facebook have not revealed any information on the outage. While WhatsApp did not respond to a request for to

comment, a notice on the app said, “Our service is experiencing a problem right now. We are working on it and hope to restore functionality shortly.” The chat app, owned by Facebook, has more than 1 billion users. Last week WhatsApp hit the headlines as it introduced a new delete for everyone feature, allowing users to unsend an embarrassing message within seven minutes of sending it. The feature is currently rolling out to users on Android and iOS, although it is unclear how widespread and quickly the launch will take place. In August, Facebook too went down temporarily for some of its more than 2 billion global users after a technical error caused a glitch

that blocked access to the social network. Meanwhile, a fake version of the upcoming WhatsApp Business app is available to download from the Play Store. The app, which has been developed by an outfit calling itself ‘Whasp. Business Inc.’, has a surprisingly high rating, despite users describing it as a “fraud app” and “data theft”. One user has also complained about being unable to login to it, with another saying it’s full of advertisements. A fake

version of the upcoming WhatsApp Business app is available to download from the Play store. The official version of WhatsApp Business is yet to launch, and the fake version is reportedly ranking very highly for the search term “WhatsApp Business” in the Play Store. The real WhatsApp Business app, which is expected to launch in the near future, is designed to make it easier for businesses and regular users to communicate.

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Issue 744 (22)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Gunman kills 3 in Thornton Walmart store

Cops hunt for identified attacker who is on the run POLICE are searching for the suspect who opened fire inside of a Denver-area Walmart on Wednesday night, killing at least three people. Thornton police spokesman Victor Avila said a gunman wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and a maroon shirt walked into the south entrance of the Walmart “nonchalantly” and began randomly shooting from a handgun. Avila said the three victims were all in the same area near the front of the store at the time of the shooting. The gunman did not say anything during the shooting and walked back out and fled the scene in a red, four-door Mitsubishi Mirage.

Police said they believe the suspect is armed and dangerous. Anyone with information is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720913-7867. At this time, police do not believe the shooting is related to terrorism, but they have not ruled anything out.

Officers with the Thornton police department first responded to the store location on Grant Street, which is south of 102nd Street in the town that’s located just 19 km outside of Denver, around 6.10 pm MT after receiving several 911 calls about the shooting. Two adult men

Court watches ISIS lone wolf’s attack strategy CCTV images seen by a jury show a would-be ISIS bomber shopping for ingredients at Asda, a court has heard. Munir Hassan Mohammed, 37, a Sudanese factory worker living in Derby, is accused of planning an attack with Rowaida elHassan, 33, a pharmacy graduate from Willesden, North London, after the pair met on the SingleMuslim.com dating site.

He had been in touch over Facebook with an ISIS commander, using the name Abubakr Kurdi, who was using the website to encourage lonewolf attacks, the Old Bailey heard. When Mohammed was arrested on December 12, 2016, he had two of the three components required to create a high explosive called triacetone triperoxide, known as “Mother of Satan”. CCTV captured Mohd at an Asda store in Derby at 6.40 pm on December 1. Mohd was arrested at 2.42 am the next day and Hassan at 4.20 am at their respective homes. They deny the charges and the case continues.

were first pronounced dead at the scene while an adult female was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. Hours later, police announced that the woman died at the hospital and that they did not have anyone in custody for the horrific shooting.

Avila did not release the identity of the victims. He also said that it’s unclear if the victims knew each other. No one else was injured in the shooting by the gunman besides those who died, Avila said. Police initially reported that “multiple parties” were down in the shooting, but later clarified the number of injuries and deceased. At 10.17 pm MT, Thornton police tweeted: “UPDATE: There is currently NO one in custody.

Unfortunately the female transported with injury has also passed away. (3) confirmed dead.” Hours after the shooting, the crime scene was still active with dozens of police vehicles still present. Thornton police said investigators were reviewing security footage and interviewing witnesses inside the store for assistance with the suspect’s description and information.

Thornton police first tweeted: “Shooting just occurred at Walmart, 9900 Grant St, multiple

parties down. Please stay away from the area.” The police department later tweeted: “At this time this is NOT an active shooter. Active crime scene. We will update as info becomes available.” Police closed the roads near the store and asked the public to avoid the area. The Walmart is located in the Thornton Town Center which includes multiple restaurants and stores. Dozens were seen rushing out of the Walmart when the shooting began and flooded Cops hunt for identified attacker who is on the run the parking lot of the Golden Corral restaurant.

Witness Aaron Stephen was inside the giant retail store when

Shackled Manhattan killer enters court in wheelchair

THE Muslim immigrant from Uzbekistan accused of carrying out Tuesday’s terror attack in Manhattan entered court Wednesday evening in a

wheelchair, handcuffed and with his feet shackled, to face terrorism charges filed against him by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Sayfullo Saipov, 29,was surrounded by five guards while in his wheelchair inside a New York federal courthouse after he was charged with providing material support to a terrorist group and committing violence and destruction of motor

vehicles. His lawyers said Wednesday they were not seeking bail and a judge ordered him to be held in federal jail. Saipov did not enter a plea to terrorism charges and a judge set his next court date for November 15. Authorities say the Uzbek national watched ISIS videos on his cellphone and picked Halloween for the attack on a bike lane in lower Manhattan because he knew more people would be out on the streets.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Saipov asked to display the ISIS flag in his hospital room where he was recovering from being shot in the stomach by police ending the attack. Saipov “stated that he felt good about what he had done”, according to court papers. He told authorities he chose Halloween for the attack because he thought there would be more civilians nearby.

he heard a single shot fired first before more bursts of gunfire. He told The Denver Post that he was in the self-checkout line at the time and that customers started screaming and running to get out. The Walmart is located

about 29 km from the Century 16 movie theater that was the sight of the mass theater shooting in Aurora. Thornton is also about 37 km from Columbine High School in Littleton.

Issue 744 (23)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Puigdemont defies Spanish deadline to surrender

OUSTED Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont will Thursday defy the Spanish government’s deadline to hand himself in to the authorities in Madrid. A European arrest warrant is expected to be issued against the 54-year-old.

His lawyer in Belgium says his client intends to fight any extradition request but does not intend to file for asylum in the country. It comes as Nazi salutes and jeers greeted Catalan politicians as they arrived in

Madrid to hand themselves in to police yesterday. The shocking scenes unfolded at the city’s airport. An elderly woman was filmed repeatedly performing the Franco-era salute while police struggled to contain the angry crowd. This morning, Spain’s supreme court suspended the cases of the sacked Catalan politicians who turned themselves on Thursday morning until November 9. The development was due to a request from the defence lawyers for more time to work on the case due to the pressurised nature of the circumstances. The politicians are expected to return to Catalonia later Thursday, on condition that

they remain based at a nominated address and are watched by police. Before facing the courts, ousted deputy leader

Oriol Junqueras tweeted: “With humility, resolve, bravery and courage, we begin a historic journey! We will win freedom.”

Junqueras arrived at the national court at 8.10 am by way of protest.

Meanwhile, hundreds of

demonstrators gathered in Barcelona’s Sant Jaume square Thursday to protest against the legal action being taken against Catalan politicians. The boisterous pro-independence crowd waved Catalan flags and shouted “freedom” and “Puigdemont is our president”.

They also chanted in support of the separatist activists Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, known as the “two Jordis”, who are currently in a Spanish prison on charges of sedition. The pair was arrested after organising a demonstration intended to hinder a police investigation in Barcelona in the run-up to the referendum on October 1.

different seasons. One segment shows snowfall accumulating at the compound, while another shot shows a rainbow emerging from the horizon outside the facility’s walls. Another clip offers the first public look at Hamza as an adult. Until now, the public has only seen childhood pictures of him. In recent years, Al Qaeda has released audio messages from Hamza binLaden. And to mark a recent

anniversary of 9/11, alQaeda superimposed a childhood photo of him over a photo of the World Trade Center. He is expected to rise to prominence in the jihadist movement and is being closely watched as the rival Islamic State organisation suffers setbacks in the Middle East.

One hourlong video shows Hamza bin-Laden, sporting a trimmed mustache but no beard, at his wedding.

CIA unveils Laden’s family life in hiding Footage shows his kids using guns to shoot balloons and playing outside ASTONISHING videos of Osama binLaden’s family life in hiding have been revealed by the CIA, showing his children and grandchildren playing in the open despite him being the world’s most-wanted man. One video shows never-before-seen footage of bin-Laden’s son and potential successor, Hamza bin-Laden, as an adult. The home videos were seized from his Abbottabad compound after Seal Team Six stormed it and killed the 9/11 mastermind. They were finally released six-and-a-half years after the dramatic raid which ended the mystery of where he

was. The videos show an apparently normal and happy family and betray little of the fear they were supposed to be living in. Inevitably, they will raise more questions over whether binLaden had official help from some quarters of the Pakistani government to stay hidden from the CIA for almost a decade.

One raw video shot inside the compound shows a sizable barn with animals including cows, chickens, and cats. The video starts with a shot of a baby calf being nursed by a mother cow.

It then shows a scene of tranquility where hens and

Osama made plans to kill Prince Harry in Iraq OSAMA bin-Laden had planned to kill Prince Harry and tracked his proposed movements in Iraq.

The Islamic terror chief kept a dossier of news articles related to the royal’s military plans on computers at his home in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

They included stories with the headlines “Prince Harry moves into the firing line” and “Prince Harry in Iraq could raise troops’ risk” and experts believe it points to a deliberate ploy by the Taliban and al-Qaeda to take out the prince. Terrorism analyst Bill Roggio told Sun Online: “Without a doubt, it shows Prince Harry was a target for al-Qaeda, they were gunning for him and also when he was deployed to Afghanistan. The Taliban was gunning for him and al-Qaeda were gunning for him.”

Prince Harry was all set to be sent out to Iraq with his unit the

Blues and Royals in May 2007 when the plan was pulled at the eleventh hour. Instead, he was covertly sent to Helmand Province in Afghanistan. Osama bin-Laden’s dossier on Prince Harry was taken from a computer recovered in the 2011 US special forces operation that killed the terror chief. The hard drive contained a video collection that included kids’ cartoons, several Hollywood movies and three documentaries about himself.

The list of the videos was included in the release on Wednesday by the CIA of nearly 470,000 files found on the computer seized in the May 2, 2011, US raid on the al-Qaeda founder’s hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. It is the fourth tranche of materials taken from the walled compound.

roosters wander about in the barnyard while a female cat cares for her litter of kittens in a tiny space behind two trash bins.

There is even a cage full of rabbits

and another pen reserved for chickens who are eating – not the setting one would expect would be home to a notorious arch-terrorist. The CIA also released a video showing young children frolicking about at home.

Toddlers and infants are seen playing on swings in the courtyard while they are filmed.

A young boy who appears no older than seven years of age is seen reciting sentences in Arabic. Most of the children are wearing traditional Pakistani garb while some are in regular Tshirts as they play indoors. In one scene, an old man with a white beard, headdress, and a robe is seen instructing two young boys on how to shoot what appears to be a toy gun. In the next scene, children are filmed as they play on a slide.

The video also shows footage of a baby girl who appears no older than five months of age. The footage indicates that although bin Laden declared war on the West, the inhabitants of the compound still used cell phones.

A computer hard drive was seen in one of the rooms, and Western pop music can be heard playing in the background as a young boy fiddles with a mobile device.

Another clip released by the CIA shows footage of the surrounding areas of the compound during the

Issue 744 (24)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

You are kind, affectionate and big-hearted with family and friends as you celebrate Dussehra this week. Your instinct and intuition lead you in a positive direction in personal and professional matters.

You bring material stability and physical well being for the family and yourself with knowledge, discipline and understanding. Do not allow work to become a drudgery but keep your enthusiasm alive. Your ambitions are realized in the coming months if you continue to be persistent in your efforts towards achievement.

You make excellent creative and earthy plans, which materialize in the New Year. Financial investments are gainful. A wonderful idea begins to take shape and you explore your management potential. It is a good time to resolve property matters. You celebrate in lavish style to bring in Dussehra on a joyous note. A journey over land is on the cards. You regain good health and indulge in sporty activity. You are content in relationships. Involvement in art, theatre or media is rewarding. You can start writing a book or working on the garden.

It’s important to protect yourself from negative influences at home and disruptive elements at work this week. It’s not a good idea to disclose business plans and changes that you are wanting to make in the future as others try to discourage you or steal your ideas. Some assets need to be kept away from family and associates or they have unrealistic expectations. A slow and steady approach allows you to fulfill ambitions and achieve professional goals. You are able to encounter your adversaries without any trepidation. It’s best to underplay your hand and keep a low profile this week.

You tend to be sentimental and sensitive this week as emotions cloud your vision, not allowing you to see things as they really are.

It’s best to assess situations with your head, as well as, with your heart before taking important decisions. A woman, close to you, tends to get easily upset emotionally and take advantage of your good nature. Professional and business matters need to be viewed from a realistic point of view so that finances and material aspects are not ignored.

You feel unburdened, free and happy during Dussehra celebrations this week. You are blessed with courage to stand up for values and priorities in personal relationships. A new opportunity expands your vision and horizon.

Travel and movement give you a sense of release and freedom from routines and patterns. You delegate responsibility and allow others to flower and grow to their potential. You may not conform to social norms and patterns. Meditation, spiritual pursuit, physical exercise or dancing can be therapeutic.

You may be disappointed as you have too great an expectation at work and in personal relationships. Be realistic. Travel plans may be postponed. Professional ventures should not be overambitious or there could be delay, useful in a way because the right time for lucrative professional investment has yet to come. It is best not be judgmental but watch the turn of events – which can be sudden and unexpected – before things settle down. Anxiety is lifted at the end of the week when monetary situations are resolved.

Love, pleasure, beauty, grace and happiness manifest in personal relationships and family scenes this Dussehra. This is a time of endings and new beginnings in professional situations and relationships! Partnerships and business collaborations are balanced, supportive and gainful. Travel and opportunities are on the cards. Be aware of dissipation, idleness and over indulgence.

An integrated perspective and a new vision of life and reality is your blessing this week! Your elegant appearance and gentle nature add to the impact you make on people.

Dushshera brings transformation and change in your life this week. You feel sacrificed to routines and patterns and want to make some changes in relationships and professional projects but have to consider what you give up in the process. Don’t be unrealistic about goals. Learn from past experience and get on with your life rather than repeat old patterns.

Endings and beginnings are on the cards! A positive attitude in personal relationships brings healing and love. Rescheduling plans and routines may be for the better.

After a period of labour and strife, this week you complete perfect unfinished business projects. Important relationships are sealed, as loving commitments are forthcoming. Personal matters and ambitions are best attended to and fulfilled as you are at your dynamic best, blessed with confidence and style. You are balanced in your approach to family and friends, who tend to go to extremes at this point. Lower stress level, or a health problem will become manifest. Dussehra on the 11th brings new beginnings.

You are blessed with the gift of communication on all levels of consciousness and brings out your creative potential this Dussehra. You work and relate well with people, excel at buying, selling or trading and expand your business. You have choices and find it hard to make decisions as you see both sides of every option. Personal and professional partnerships and priorities become clear and you know who or what is important in your life. Love, romance and travel are on the cards this week! Your social life is enviable and exhausting.

You have great energy to achieve business targets and professional goals. You are impatient and unable to suffer fools gladly this week. You make quick decisions and follow plans with dynamic energy. Personal relationships are full of romance and passion and you celebrate Dussehra with style and enthusiasm. You can be fiery and outspoken when opposed or attacked by adversaries or competitors. Beware of a proud and bigoted older man who can be disruptive in the work area.

Death and rebirth or endings and new beginnings are on the cards as you celebrate Dussehra this week! You can expect major changes in professional and business aspects, which look destructive but lead to positive situations. Inner transformation of priorities, values and attitudes leads to spiritual growth and understanding. It also leads to voluntary or involuntary, perhaps sudden and unexpected changes. You may restructure office routines, busy schedules, travel plans, work systems, food habits, fitness programs and patterns this week.

Issue 744 (25)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Technology Twitter censors ‘bisexual’ hashtag, apologises to users

San Francisco Twitter which updated its policies last week to fight abuse in an efficient way has come under fire for censoring LGBTQ terms like “bisexual” on its platform.

According to The Verge on Monday, while updating its policies, the micro-blogging website also censored the “bisexual” hashtag under its adult content rules.

The biggest updates on the platform included abusive behaviour, self-harm, spam and related behaviours, graphic violence and adult content.

Angry Twitterati posted against the move.

“If you search #bisexual and click on photos or news there are no results. This is bi-erasure. @Twitter has done this. We exist,” tweeted one user.

The updates last week were part of revamp to Twitter‘s policies surrounding online abuse.

Reacting to the latest controversy, Twitter posted: “We`ve identified an error with search results for certain terms. We apologize for this. We`re working quickly to resolve & will update soon”.

Earlier in October, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had said that the social media platform would take a more aggressive stance in its rules and its enforcement of them. Dorsey, in his announcement which was a response to the #WomenBoycottTwitter protest, said that the platform would develop new rules for things like unwanted sexual advances, nonconsensual nudity, hate symbols, violent groups, and tweets that glorify violence.

India among top 7 countries at high ramsomeware risk: Sophos New Delhi: India is among the top seven countries for ransomware circulation as cyber attacks on Windows, Android, Linux and MacOS systems have increased this year globally, a new report has said.

According to “SophosLabs 2018 Malware Forecast” by global network and endpoint security leader Sophos, two types of Android attack methods are emerging — locking the phone without encrypting data and locking the phone while encrypting the data.

“Ransomware has become platform-agnostic. Ransomware mostly targets Windows computers, but this year, SophosLabs saw an increased amount of crypto attacks on different devices and operating systems used by our customers worldwide,” said Dorka Palotay, SophosLabs Security Researcher, in a statement on Saturday.

WannaCrypt, unleashed in May 2017, was the top ransomware intercepted from customer computers, dethroning the longtime ransomware leader Cerber, which first appeared in early 2016.

WannaCrypt accounted for 45.3

Facebook knows it has 270 million fake accounts

London Already under lens for its role in Russia‘s meddling into the 2016 US eelction, Facebook

has admitted that up to 270 million accounts on the platform are either fake or duplicate.

The social media giant this week released its third quarter earning and buried in those results, it disclosed that there are tens of millions more fake and duplicate accounts than it had previously thought, The Telegraph reported on Saturday.

Around two-to-three per cent of its 2.1 billion monthly users in the third quarter of 2017 were “user-misclassified and undesirable accounts”, Facebook said, adding the number were up from

the one per cent it had estimated in July.

Another 10 per cent of its accounts are duplicates of real users, almost doubling its estimate of six per cent from last quarter‘s results, suggesting that in total, up to 13 per cent of its 2.1 billion monthly users (almost 270 million accounts) are “illegitimate”.

The company said that improvements to the data used to identify fake accounts was behind the increase, rather than a sudden surge in fake users, the report pointed out.

The disclosure could lead to increased scrutiny of the social network that is already under scrutiny after it revealed that the Russian content on its platforms reached more users than reported earlier.

According to a report in The Washington Post in October, Facebook was planning to tell lawmakers that 126 million of its users might have seen content produced and circulated by Russian operatives — many times more than the company had previously disclosed about their reach.

Facebook had previously reported that nearly 10 million users had seen those ads.

per cent of all ransomware tracked through SophosLabs with Cerber accounting for 44.2 per cent.

“For the first time we saw ransomware with worm-like characteristics, which contributed to the rapid expansion of WannaCrypt. This ransomware took advantage of a known Windows vulnerability to infect and spread to computers, making it hard to control,” added Palotay.

Android ransomware is also attracting cyber criminals.

According to SophosLabs analysis, the number of attacks on Sophos customers using Android devices increased almost every month in 2017.

One reason they believe

ransomware on Android is taking off is because it‘s an easy way for cyber criminals to make money instead of stealing contacts and SMS, popping ups ads or bank phishing which requires sophisticated hacking techniques.

“It`s important to note that Android ransomware is mainly discovered in non-Google Play markets - another reason for users to be very cautious about where and what kinds of apps they download,” the researchers noted.

Sophos recommends backing up phones on a regular schedule, similar to a computer, to preserve data and avoid paying ransom just to regain access.

Kabul Afghanistan‘s telecoms regulator wrote to internet service providers this week ordering them to block the messaging services WhatsApp and Telegram but it was not immediately clear whether they had complied.

Use of social media and mobile instant messaging services has exploded in Afghanistan over recent years. Social media users and civil rights groups reacted with outrage to initial reports of the move and the letter sent by telecoms regulator ATRA was widely shared on social media.

Some media reports, citing unidentified sources, said the move had been ordered by the National Directorate for Security to thwart the use of the encrypted messaging services by the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

It was not immediately possible

to confirm the reports.

The acting minister for telecommunications, Shahzad Aryobee, posted a message on Facebook saying that the telecoms regulator had been ordered to put a gradual block on the services to improve their functioning after complaints had been received.

“The government is committed to freedom of speech and knows that it is a basic civil right for our people,” he wrote.

The letter by telecoms regulator ATRA, dated Nov. 1 and signed by an official of the regulator, directed internet companies to block Telegram and Facebook Inc‘s WhatsApp services “without delay” for a period of 20 days.

Afghanistan moves to block WhatsApp, Telegram messaging services

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Rohingya held for al-Qaeda links says cops molested him

British Rohingya national Samiun Rahman, who was arrested in September for his alleged links to al-Qaeda, has claimed that he was sexually abused at the hands of five Tamil Nadu special police officials in Tihar Jail. Rahman said the five police officials asked him to strip off and then took turns to touch his privates, leaving him uncomfortable.

According to him, he was put through the ordeal because he is a British national. He has sought the registration

of an FIR against the officials and wants quick action. In the application filed before the court through advocate MS Khan, Rahman narrated the details of the incident that allegedly took place on Thursday. “On November 2, five personnel came to my cell and touched my penis. Usually, it is just one personnel who used to search my body properly but that day it was five of them.

After touching my penis, they asked me to strip and deliberately harassed me

sexually,” he said. The court has a sought reply from the prison authorities in the matter. Earlier, Rahman, 28, had alleged that he was being kept in Tihar in inhuman conditions “like that of an animal” and that the prison “lacks basic facilities such as proper food, drinking water, sanitation and medical facilities.”

He claimed that the jail authorities have not allowed him to avail the telephone facility which is available to other prisoners and nor does he have access to the consular despite repeated requests. A case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2008 and Arms Act has been registered against him and an investigation has been taken up to unearth the al-Qaeda web he had knitted in India. He was arrested from Vikas Marg in Shakarpur with a 9mm pistol, a laptop, a mobile phone with the SIM card of India and Bangladesh.

Rahman, a resident of Port Pool Lane, London, was staying in India with a fake identity. His parents moved to Britain from Bangladesh in 1960s and settled in central London. His father was a businessman in London. Aged 19, he was arrested by traffic cops in London twice and was jailed for 18 months. It was in London prison that he allegedly got radicalised, and in 2012, when he came out, he went to Mauritania for terror related activities.

Bihar’s dirty picture war of sons & girlfriends

IT’S AN all out photo war between JD(U) and RJD ever since a picture of chief minister Nitish Kumar went viral showing him with an accused in the 2012 Bhojpur hooch tragedy. A couple of days back, former deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav lashed out at Nitish for the photo, which led JD(U) to release a picture of Tejashwi with a girl on Friday. JD(U) spokespersons Sanjay Singh, Neeraj Kumar and Nikhil Mandal, who addressed a press conference, raised questions over Tejashwi’s character alleging that he only indulged in “rangreliyaan” and “aish-mauj”. Within an hour of JD-U releasing the photo, Tejashwi reacted slamming Nitish of being the mastermind behind the act. Calling the move unfortunate, Tejashwi indirectly indulged in a personal attack on the CM. “Nitish should tell why did he name two trains as Archana Express and Upasana Express? Also, he should tell that whenever he goes to Delhi, why does he drop his luggage at Bihar Niwas and go to Palam Vihar and Dwarka?” he questioned. But things got murkier when RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav showed picture of JD(U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh’s son with a girl.

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Kew Gardens alt-right rally cancelled after critics slam Toronto police memo about event

A Toronto alt-right rally billed as "anti-Trudeau" was cancelled on Saturday a day after Toronto police issued a statement about the protest and a planned counter-protest.

The alt-right rally was to be held in Kew Gardens, a park in the city's Beach neighbourhood. The counter-protest, described as

anti-fascist, is underway in the form of a block party "to send the clear message that Nazis will never be welcome here," according to the event's Facebook page.Critics said the Toronto Police Service statement, posted by 55 Division on Facebook on Friday, was condescending and unprofessional. The post was taken down a few hours after it appeared."In the ever-so-reliable social media world, the protest then began being spread as a white supremacist, neo-Nazi and fascist protest," the post reads.

Critics slammed the statement's language, likening it to tweets written by U.S. President Donald Trump. "Do you have Donald

Trump writing your posts now?"

Cathy Wright asked in Facebook comments below the post.

The police's statement said: "in response to the protest having these dynamics, counterprotests were planned by various opposition groups; communists and socialists etc." Yona Nestel, in Facebook comments, said

"you should be supporting families and community members coming out to celebrate unity and diversity, not equate them to communists."

Glynn Broughton also pointed out that "if this was a [Black Lives Matter] protest I bet it would read differently." Well-known activist Desmond Cole called out Toronto police for "protecting racists" in a tweet.A few hours later, Toronto police deleted the Facebook post and issued an apology."My previous post used language that was misleading and was a follow up to a specific thread. It offended some readers.

I apologize for that," the statement read. "It is our hope that anyone who attends any

Paintings by Indian elephant auctioned off in Hungary

event will respect the law and everyone's right to freedom of speech. Police will continue to do what they can to ensure a safe and secure event for everyone who attends."

On Friday evening, "antiTrudeau" rally organizer Kevin Goudreau, chairman of a group calling itself the Canadian Nationalist Front, which is described on its website as a nationalist organization that "would like to see the return to Canada's original predominantly white-European and Native Aboriginal ethnic make up," said in a tweet that Saturday's rally was cancelled."Taking next couple months to reorganize strengthen and build our membership base while spreading our message but will have meetings, events," he wrote.

Anti-fascist block party The block party in Kew Gardens, organized by several anti-fascist groups in response to the planned alt-right rally, kicked off at noon. Upwards of 50 people gathered in the park, many holding signs that read "refugees welcome" or had messages decrying fascism.

Demonstrator Rabea Murtaza with the group East Enders Against Racism told CBC Toronto, "I'm horrified that neoNazis feel they can gather in Toronto openly."

Murtaza, a Beach resident, explained they went ahead with the block party - which began as a counter-protest - after the altright rally was scrapped to show that all forms of hate don't belong in the east end. "The purpose of this gathering was to occupy the park with our energy and our people," she said.

"We can't let neo-Nazis and white supremacists feel safe enough to use this park to spread their message of hate.

Invasive species are a growing global threat

LOS ANGELES Remote Bouvet Island, a tiny, glacier-smothered landmass in the South Atlantic rimmed by 500-meter-tall cliffs, has a notable distinction: It’s the only known spot on Earth, scientists say, that has zero invasive species . Every other place, and every person, on the planet is at least indirectly affected by one or more species that has been transported - either intentionally or inadvertently - to new lands from the ecosystems in which the species evolved.In The Aliens Among Us, biologist and science journalist Leslie Anthony chronicles the detrimental effects of invasive species , as well as how these organisms spread and how they can be fought. In the United States, such interlopers - everything from zebra mussels in the Great Lakes to Burmese pythons in the Everglades damage crops, infrastructure or otherwise cost taxpayers about $145 billion annually.Invasive species , Anthony writes, are “children born of globalization and consumerism.” Their numbers increase as international trade widens and accelerates. Some species surreptitiously hitch a ride to their

new homes on human transport: Think seeds and burrs on hikers’ clothing, or fish in ballast water of cargo ships. Others have been deliberately released, like earthworms or baitfish set loose by fishermen, or exotic lizards and snakes set free by careless pet owners.Rats, the world’s foremost invasive species , have traveled the world with explorers and traders; so have tropical fire ants, which genetic studies suggest have hitchhiked from southwestern Mexico to Asia and beyond starting in the 16th century in soil used as ballast in Spanish ships.The Aliens Among Us is a thoroughly engaging book that draws from Anthony’s fieldwork and interviews with scientists, community volunteers, government researchers and policy makers. These groups are struggling to intercept species before they establish a beachhead on new shores, as well as eradicate those that have already gained a foothold.

Discussion of people fighting the spread of Zika virus and other exotic diseases - big threats despite their minuscule size makes the book especially timely.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigns in shocking announcement

BUDAPEST Paintings created by an Indian elephant who enjoys wielding a brush were auctioned off by a Hungarian traveling circus on Saturday.Three of 42-year-old elephant Sandra’s abstract canvasses, with colored lines flowing across them resembling rivers, fetched about 40,000 forints ($150) each.A painting depicting Sandra herself, done by a Hungarian painter, sold for 260,000 forints. The money will be offered to an elephant sanctuary in Malaysia.

Sandra paints with her trunk purely for pleasure, according to her owner and trainer Florian Richter, a horse acrobat and circus director.

Sandra, who was already well

practised in a circus trick involving a shaving brush, was given a paintbrush and she quickly adapted her skills to the canvas.

Richter said that unlike many elephants in Thailand that are thought to be forced to paint, Sandra does it by herself when she is in the mood.“I only help her with changing the brushes and putting them into paints but she does the rest by herself more or less. I praise her by saying ‘oh this is really good, or not so good’,” Richter said. “We have been together for 40 years so this is a family connection.” Sandra arrived as a baby elephant at the circus where Richter grew up, as a seventh generation member of an acrobat family.

BEIRUT Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned from his post in a televised address from the Saudi capital Saturday, accusing Hezbollah of taking the country hostage, in a surprise move that plunged the nation into uncertainty amid heightened regional tensions.

In his resignation speech, Hariri fired a vicious tirade against Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah group for what he said was their meddling in Arab affairs and said that “Iran’s arms in the region will be cut off.”

“The evil that Iran spreads in the region will backfire on it,” Hariri said, accusing Tehran of spreading chaos, strife and destruction throughout the region.

Hariri was appointed prime minister in late 2016 and headed a 30-member coalition government that included members of the Shiite militant

Hezbollah. But it’s been an uneasy partnership between Hariri, who heads a Sunni-led camp loyal to Saudi Arabia, and Hezbollah, which represents a camp loyal to Shiite Iran.

Hezbollah. As U.S. and Saudi Arabia sought ways to curb Iran’s growing influence in the region, Hariri has come under pressure to distance himself from the militant group which has sent

President Michel Aoun, who was elected in October 2016 after more than a two-year presidential vacuum, is a close ally of

thousands of troops to neighbouring Syria to shore up President Bashar Assad’s forces.

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A hotel tax is coming to Mississauga and the city hopes it will help attract visitors The 4% tax is set to go into effect July 2018 and could eventually extend to short-term rentals The city of Mississauga is introducing a four per cent hotel

tax next summer and says the money will go toward attracting more visitors and boosting tourism.

The tax, approved by city council this week, is consistent with a four per cent rate also under consideration by the city of Toronto, and could be the first wave in a tax change right across the Greater Toronto Area. If approved, it would come into effect in July 2018.

The measure is estimated to generate close to $10 million annually between Toronto and Mississauga. Half of that revenue would go to Tourism Toronto and the other half would

be reinvested in Mississauga's "master plan" to attract more visitors, according to Mayor Bonnie Crombie. Tourism Toronto is a not-for-profit agency consisting of public

and private partners with over 1,100 members of which the city of Mississauga is one.

"Think of it as a user fee," Crombie told CBC Toronto, saying the rate would be consistent with the rate that Toronto is considering, "so that our hotels can be competitive with their hotels."

Crombie says the tax was made possible through the province's Stronger, Healthier Ontario Act, Bill 127, which went into effect this past May. But while Toronto hasn't yet moved on a tax, Mississauga is forging ahead. Crombie says it will generate a new revenue

stream for the city, which unlike Toronto, does not generate revenue through a land-transfer tax or vehicle-registration tax.

Crombie expects the revenue tool will strengthen Mississauga's tourism industry, including its cultural attractions, festivals and sporting events. But some worry it will do just the opposite."That's going to be expensive for clients because when you get a hotel room it's already expensive. To promote tourism in the city I think that you can use other methods," said tourist Minh Va."I think if you lower prices and create deals for tourists that will bring more people into a city."

And it isn't just hotels that will be taxed. Crombie says shortterm rentals, such as AirBnB, would also face the four per cent fee as Mississauga moves to regulate them.

That's something Mississauga resident Nima Parsa worries could make things harder for what he sees as an already struggling industry.

"These days I know hotels are struggling especially AirBnBs, so if you want to add taxes ... it's going to be harder for them," she said.

City staff will be meeting with hotel industry stakeholders in the coming months and Crombie says consultations will be held before the tax is implemented.

Egypt archaeologist criticises pyramid void ‘discovery’

CAIRO An Egyptian archaeologist overseeing a project to scan a pyramid for voids on Saturday criticised the announcement of a discovery of a passenger planesized cavity in the Great Pyramid.Scientists with the ScanPyramids project revealed on Thursday that the void discovered with subatomic particle scans was the first major structure found inside the pyramid since the 19th century.

It is thought to be at least 30 metres (98 feet) long and located above the “Grand Gallery” - a sloped corridor almost 50 metres long and nine metres high which links Khufu’s burial chamber at the pyramid’s centre to a tunnel leading outside. The findings were published by the science journal Nature.

But Zahi Hawass, who heads the ScanPyramids science committee overseeing the project, said there was no new “discovery”. He said he had met other scientists from ScanPyramids who “showed us their conclusions, and we

informed them this is not a discovery,” he told AFP. “The pyramid is full of voids and that does not mean there is a secret chamber or a new discovery,” he said.

In a statement on Thursday, the head of the government’s antiquities council Mustafa Waziri also criticised the announcement. “The project has to proceed in a scientific way that follows the steps of scientific research and its discussion before publication,” he said. The monument - 139 metres high today, and 230 metres wide - was erected as a tomb for Khufu, also known as Cheops. To this day, nobody knows quite how it was built. The void, said co-author Kunihiro Morishima from Nagoya University in Japan, “was not known by anyone until now, from when the pyramid was built 4,500 years ago”.

“The big void is completely closed,” he added, which means anything inside it would not have been “touched by anyone after the pyramid (was) built”.

The man who built an aeroplane on his Mumbai rooftop MUMBAI Seven years ago, Amol Yadav announced to his family and friends that he would build an aeroplane on the roof of a boxy apartment building in the teeming Indian city of Mumbai .

Incredulous friends and family members asked the young pilot how he planned to bring the plane down once it was complete. “I really don’t know,” he told them.

Mr Yadav, who flies twin-engine turboprop planes for a living, is nothing if not obstinate.

The five-storey building, home to his 19-member joint family, didn’t have a lift, so they lugged factory lathes, compressors, welding machines, and an imported 180kg (396lb) engine up the narrow stairwell to the roof.

Braving sticky summers and torrential monsoon rains, Mr Yadav and his motley crew - an automobile garage mechanic and an expert fabricator - worked under a tarp shed on the unkempt 111.5 sq m (1,200 sq ft) roof, less than half the size of a tennis court.

In February last year, his sixseater propeller plane was ready.

It is, according to Mr Yadav, the first such aircraft built at home in

India.The engine, he claims, is powerful enough to make the plane climb up to 3,920m (13,000ft); and the tank can hold enough fuel to cover a distance of 2,000km, cruising at 342km (185 nautical miles) an hour.On the rooftop , however, the plane strained to fit in, its tail stretching over the parapet wall and protruding into the smoggy sky.

“Now we had to take the plane down from the top of the roof and show it to the people,” Mr Yadav, 41, told me recently at his residence. The single engine propeller plane strained to fit into the rooftop The government was hosting a massive Make in India show - named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious initiative aimed at making the country a global manufacturing hub - in Mumbai .

When Mr Yadav sought permission from organisers to show his plane, they refused, saying there was no space available. His brothers scampered to the convention ground in Bandra in west Mumbai , and spotted some space where the plane could be displayed. They chatted up security-men, trying to impress on them the “importance of displaying a homemade aircraft”.

“So we decided to dismantle the plane overnight, gatecrash the show and show it to the world,” Mr Yadav says.

On a balmy evening, Mr Yadav and his family dismantled the plane.They removed the engine, wings, tail and fuselage. Then they used a electric crane they had made on top of the roof to lift

down the empty city streets, the fuselage towed by one of the vehicles, to the exhibition ground, some 25km away.A car towed the plane for tests at an airfield in Maharashtra There, the security

the parts and lower them to the road, where two trucks awaited.

A heaving crowd of neighbours waited with bated breath.

Kenyan man builds plane in front yard : At some point, the crane developed a snag and the ninemetre fuselage that was being lowered hung precariously in midair.“I nearly had a heart attack.

We thought the crane would collapse and the fuselage would fall on the street. And then, after a few minutes of suspense, the crane began working again, and all was well”, says Mr Yadav.

The disembowelled aircraft was swiftly packed into the trucks.

Around midnight they rumbled

men waved them in, and the crew assembled the plane in three hours as Mr Yadav and his technicians barked out orders.

When the show opened in a few hours, the interloper plane stood in a vacant space near a pavilion and began drawing a throng of curious onlookers. A local newspaper and a news channel picked up the story. The throng turned into a flood of visitors taking selfies with the plane. India’s aviation minister came visiting, as did senior officials and a bevy of businessmen.And with that, Mr Yadav’s plane became homeless as quickly as it became famous.

The roof was no longer a viable

option.

Indigenous plane: Over the next 15 months, the plane lay in crates in a neighbourhood temple, was taken to an air-show, and stood in a container truck outside the international airport in Mumbai . This May, it was moved into Mumbai airport itself, where it is parked next to a private Airbus belonging to a fugitive billionaire.Mr Yadav says he’s now ready to commercially build India’s first indigenous planes.

Investors have shown interest.

The local BJP-led government has promised him 157 acres of land to set up a factory to make 19seater aeroplanes.India has only 450 commercial aircraft, and domestic air traffic is growing at a steady clip. Mr Yadav believes his factory, backed by investors and the government, could build small planes which would further boost regional air connectivity and provide jobs.

There’s one major hitch, though, that stands in the way of Mr Yadav’s dream of becoming India’s first modern home-grown aviator.The plane was dismantled on the roof and lowered down by crane Despite requests from the local government and MPs, and pleas from Prime Minister Modi’s office, India’s airline regulator has been dithering for the last six years over registering the rooftop plane, and certifying it as airworthy.

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I have a serious crush on my teacher -should I tell her?

The dilemma I’m a 16-year-old student harbouring ardent feelings for a teacher. She’s an absolutely wonderful (in my view, angelic) human being, who seems utterly devoted to what she does and is terribly cordial to us students. It is out of awe for her personality, and gratitude for how she’s made a mark in my life, that I feel so attached to her. She’s in her late 20s, I suppose, but I feel she could be 18. My feelings are not sexual, but my social circles make barely any room for this possibility. I can find little solace in my friends for fear that they’d mock me because she’s not considered a looker. I feel an urge to tell her how amazing and adored she is, but fear she’ll be threatened or affronted, or that she’ll feel pained for me and not know how to respond.

Mariella replies Let’s talk motivation, shall we? I certainly appreciate and recognise your finer feelings for this teacher. It’s easy to forget in adulthood what a dramatic and positive influence a good teacher can have when we’re young and impressionable,

and what havoc a bad one can wreak. I’ll never forget Miss Needham in my village school in Kilmacanogue, rocking on her heels, pressed up against the storage heater while her students shivered at their desks in the cold prefabricated schoolroom, tapping the same rhythm she rocked to with the bamboo switch in her hand.

The only useful thing I recall learning that year was how to avoid her attention and, by default, a caning.

Later though, like many school kids, I had my unrequited passions. The greatest was for Brother Jim, a bearded Maronite with a genius for teaching maths.

So devoted to him was I that, after years of D grades, in the space of one year in his class I upped my game to honours Maths, only to crash back to mediocrity the moment I moved on. Then there was Mr Murtagh, who I may not have loved so passionately at the time but who I’ve grown to value immeasurably as the decades have passed. He taught me how to lose and find myself in stories – and his

appearance this summer at the Dalkey Book Festival, where I was discussing the anthology of erotica I’d edited, brought me to sudden and surprising tears!

When you ask people about their teachers, so often stories of inspiration and gratitude abound and their influence continues to resonate down the decades.

Having a crush on your teacher is as common as it is complex.

I followed Brother Jim around like a dog, trotting at his ankles as he circumnavigated the school, wearing him down with my

back in touch and enjoyed an online session of mutual forgiveness.

I bring up those experiences to highlight how natural it is to be feeling that way you are. There are, as I’m sure you’re aware, a number of tortuous questions woven into your email. Should you declare yourself? Is it wrong to feel such passion? Is it possible it might be reciprocated? What should you expect your classmates’ reaction to be?

Whether she’s 18 or 80, no

ceaseless chatter until one day he put a piece of chalk in my mouth in class to shut me up.

Judged by today’s standards it may seem a little unpalatable but it was very much a benign intervention back in 1970s Ireland! I’m happy to report that Brother Jim and I recently got

matter how inspirational you find her, as a relationship this isn’t going anywhere. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell her how you feel. Teachers work long and hard, for little money and often less thanks, so to have a student acknowledge your influence, articulate your virtues and thank

you for your input would no doubt feel like a welcome and rare reward. You’re young and vulnerable, and misplaced emotions are simply a part of growing up. It’s easy to confuse romantic passion for admiration, a mistake I make every time a tree surgeon visits our house!

Whether your teacher is a “looker” or not is of no consequence, as this can’t, shouldn’t and won’t be a relationship where her physical attributes are of consequence.

To drag your elevated passion for her down to the pedestrian realms of physical desire would be the opposite of a compliment.

Instead you can feel free to worship her, learn from her and let her know what a difference she’s making to your life. You have little to be ashamed of and it’s a debt that’s worth repaying.

What a lucky pupil you are to have such a great mentor in your life. Appreciate every instant but don’t let your emotions run away with you.

Great teachers don’t grow on trees so celebrate her the oldfashioned way, put pen to paper and tell her why you value her.

Your reward will be the pleasure she gains from the knowledge that in the eyes of at least one of her students, she’s done her job brilliantly and made her mark on your life.

Sexual harassment scandal hits hot China unveils massive spot frequented by Ottawa’s political elite island-building vessel OTTAWA The chef at a favoured Parliament Hill restaurant recently apologized over a series of sexual harassment complaints, prompting people to ask how far the expectation of condemnation should extend.It’s lunchtime on a Thursday and Riviera is

packed. Beneath the din of many voices and a brass-blasting Sinatra song, there doesn’t appear to be a free table in the joint. Patrons are stacked elbowto-elbow all down the gleaming, steel-top bar that curls near the front door and stretches to the back of the restaurant, where busy cooks lean into plumes of steam that sprout from stovetops in the corner.

Business as usual, in other words, for the fancy cocktail bar

and eatery that’s become one of the trendiest hangouts near the Hill.It would be totally unremarkable if it weren’t for the whiff of scandal.Riviera’s coowner, Matt Carmichael, a prominent figure in the capital’s restaurant scene who has been described as a celebrity chef,

admitted last week to having “sexually harassed women with inappropriate comments.”

Carmichael put out a statement that said he went to rehab this summer for addiction to drugs and alcohol and, in his new-found “clear state of sobriety,” apologized to the women he harassed.The Ottawa Citizen reported allegations from Riviera staffers, one of whom told the paper Carmichael sent her an inappropriate message on

Facebook.The situation appears to be another example of a powerful man falling from grace at a moment when the cultural domain roils with allegations of sexual harassment and assault, as well the denunciations that attend them. It’s happening in Hollywood with Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein. We’ve seen in it in Montreal with the creator of the city’s Just for Laughs festival. And just Wednesday, the U.K.’s defence minister resigned and apologized for gripping a radio host’s knee in 2002.Carmichael’s case has an added dimension. Riviera is known around town as a favoured haunt for the politically connected. The restaurant with the ’80s-style neon pink sign is situated in an old, art deco bank just steps from the Prime Minister’s Office, and hosted a government soiree when the 2017 budget came out last March. This brings up an interesting thought: when something like this happens in proximity to those with public duties, how far does the requirement to condemn it extend? Can Liberal insiders still drink their “Femme Fatale” cocktails and nosh “Le Big Matt” burgers (“think like a Big Mac, but better,” a reporter was told) without fear of troublesome optics?

BEIJING China has unveiled a massive ship described as a “magic island maker” that is Asia’s largest dredging vessel, state media reported Saturday. The ship, capable of building artificial islands of the sort the country has constructed in the contested South China Sea, was launched Friday at a port in eastern Jiangsu province, according to the state-owned China Daily.The boat named Tian Kun Hao is capable of digging 6,000 cubic meters an hour, the equivalent of three standard swimming pools, the newspaper said.It is a larger version of the one China used to dredge sand, mud and coral for transforming reefs and islets in the South China Sea into artificial islands capable of hosting

military installations.When testing of the ship is completed next June, it will be the most powerful such vessel in Asia, the paper noted, nicknaming it the “magic island maker”.Beijing’s aggressive campaign of archipelago building in the South China Sea has been a point of contention with neighbouring countries that lay claim to parts of its waters.China claims nearly all of the sea, through which $5 trillion in annual shipping trade passes and which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.

Its sweeping claims overlap with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan.China has previously said that it had completed its reclamation projects in an area of the sea known as the Spratlys.

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George Bush Sr calls Trump a ‘blowhard’ and voted for Clinton Former US Republican President George Bush Sr has confirmed he voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, labelling Donald Trump a "blowhard".

His son, George W Bush, said he worries that "I will be the last Republican president", even though President Trump is a

Republican.

"This guy doesn't know what it means to be president," the younger man said.

The pair's comments come from a new book, titled The Last Republicans.

Preview excerpts from the book were published by US media outlets.

"Blowhard" is a casual term for a person who is boastful or blustering, the Oxford English Dictionary says, and it is usually meant as an insult.

"I don't like him. I don't know much about him, but I know he's a blowhard. And I'm not too excited about him being a leader," said George Bush Sr, who was president between 1989 and 1993.He also told the author of the book, Mark Updegrove, that he felt Mr Trump

ran for the presidency because he had "a certain ego", in remarks reported by US media outlets including CNN and the New York Times.

George W Bush, adding to his remarks that Mr Trump "doesn't know what it means to be president," said "you can either exploit the anger, incite it, or you

can come up with ideas to deal with it."The younger Bush's comments are in keeping with a speech he gave in late October widely seen as a critique of the new president, though it did not name him.

Voting for Clinton: During the 2016 presidential campaign, neither former president endorsed Donald Trump.But in the new book, George Bush Sr confirmed that he voted for the rival party's candidate in Hillary Clinton.George W Bush, however, said he simply left his presidential ballot blank.

The book's title, Mr Updegrove told CNN, came from a remark made by George W Bush during the presidential election.

As the previous Republican president before Barack Obama took office, he told the author:

"You know, I fear that I will be the last Republican president."

"And it wasn't just about Hillary Clinton becoming president, as the Republican Party was having a difficult time finding itself. It was because Donald Trump represented everything that the Bushes abhorred," Mr Updegrove told CNN. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders hit back at the former presidents in a statement.

"The American people voted to elect an outsider who is capable of implementing real, positive, and needed change - instead of a lifelong politician beholden to special interests," she said.

"If they were interested in continuing decades of costly mistakes, another establishment politician more concerned with putting politics over people would have won."

Meanwhile, former head of the Democratic National Committee, Donna Brazile, has claimed she seriously considered replacing Hillary Clinton with VicePresident Joe Biden as the party's presidential candidate during the campaign.

In extracts from her own book published by the Washington Post, she said Mrs Clinton's campaign had "the odour of failure" and alleges a huge array of failures and incidents of mismanagement within the party.

Ms Brazile was herself at the centre of a controversy when she fed the Clinton campaign a question in advance of a debate against Bernie Sanders during the race for the Democratic nomination.

Jagmeet Singh says drug addiction is a social, not criminal justice, issue

VICTORIA At the B.C. NDP convention this weekend, the federal leader says he has witnessed the devastation of opioid addictions, and called on the federal government to declare a national crisis. Jagmeet Singh says he’s witnessed the devastation of British Columbia’s opioid overdose epidemic and it breaks his heart.The federal New Democrat Party leader said he visited an overdose prevention site in Vancouver this week where he saw people struggling with addiction and learned how to administer the overdosebusting medication Naloxone.

Singh told about 2,000 delegates attending the B.C. NDP convention on Saturday that Canada’s drug laws should reflect that drug addiction is a social justice issue and not a criminal justice matter. He called on the federal government to declare opioid addiction a national crisis.

Singh drew a standing ovation when he said the New Democrats would decriminalize personal possession of all drugs, not just marijuana.“I saw that people’s lives are being destroyed while the federal

McKenna’s ‘climate Barbie’ exchange with Rebel reporter generates strong reaction MONTREAL There was no shortage of reaction from social media users on Saturday to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna's decision to call out a conservative site that had repeatedly referred to her as "climate Barbie."

McKenna received hundreds of messages of support from citizens and fellow politicians after she pushed reporter Christopher Wilson during a news conference for a commitment that The Rebel will stop using the term in its articles and on social media.Liberal MP Seamus O'Regan and NDP MP Nathan Cullen were among several politicians who congratulated McKenna on Saturday for taking a stand against what Cullen called misogynistic language.

"Good on @cathmckenna for staring down misogynistic 'Rebel' media," Cullen wrote on his Twitter attack. "Words matter

& cheap, sexist attacks 2b challenged."

Paul Dewar, the former NDP MP who lost his seat to McKenna in the last election, also tweeted support for his former rival and

criticized those who use "demeaning language." The exchange occurred as Wilson asked McKenna a question about hydroelectricity at a news conference in Vancouver on Friday."So you're the Rebel Media that happens to call me

'climate Barbie.' I certainly hope that you will no longer use that hashtag," McKenna said.

Wilson eventually replied that he would not personally use the name but did not have editorial

control over others.The exchange drew a flood of Twitter messages, many from people thanking McKenna for having the courage to standing up to sexist language."Bravo @cathmckenna for calling out the misogyny.

Keep doing it for you, your girls,

and all of us. Sincere thanks. .braveandstrong," wrote one Twitter user.But not all the response on social media supported McKenna.Some, including The Rebel founder Ezra Levant, took to Twitter to defend the use of the nickname and continued to use it repeatedly.

Some of the critics accused McKenna of using derogatory language herself by describing those who doubt climate change as "deniers" -- a word commonly used to describe those who doubt the Holocaust.Wilson, who had initially told McKenna he wouldn't personally use the Barbie nickname any more, appeared to have reconsidered when he took to Twitter after the exchange."Our Alberta bureau chief coined the phrase "Climate Barbie", a reference to McKenna's shallowness. She did not disprove that tonight," he wrote in a Twitter post on Friday.

government does little or nothing and it breaks my heart,” he said.

“I saw with my own eyes the devastation of the opioid crisis.”Singh said addiction is rooted in issues of poverty and mental health. “To me poverty, mental health and addictions don’t sound like criminal justice problems,” he said. “They sound to me like a social justice problem. That’s why I’m calling for the decriminalization of all personal possession offences when it comes to drugs to make a difference in the lives of people and actually bring real change.”

Singh, elected NDP leader last month, said the federal New Democrats must become the party that represents the lives and hopes of Canadians. “We get it,” he said. “We are the party that hears the stories of people, the struggles. We must again be the party that inspires Canadians.

That makes their hearts beat faster.”Earlier, B.C. Premier John Horgan told delegates the provincial party is celebrating forming government after 16 years of Liberal administrations, but serious decisions about the Site C dam and Kinder Morgan pipeline are ahead.

Minister of National Defence in town for Remembrance Day Ceremony

The Minister of National Defence will be in town on Sunday to help honour Sikh soldiers and veterans.

The annual Sikh Remembrance Day Ceremony is happening at the Mount Hope Cemetery in Kitchener, where the grave of WWI hero Pvt. Buckham Singh sits.

It’s the only military grave in Canada for a Sikh soldier from the World Wars, and Sunday’s ceremony has now become one of the largest annual gatherings of Sikh soldiers and veterans in North America.Minister Harjit Sajjan is set to give remarks.

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Billionaire prince among dozens arrested in Saudi sweep Saudi Arabia's heir to the throne is overseeing an unprecedented wave of arrests of dozens of the country's most powerful princes, military officers, influential businessmen and government ministers - many of them potential rivals or critics of the crown prince, whose purported anti-corruption sweep sent shockwaves across the kingdom Sunday as he further consolidated power.

Among those taken into custody overnight Saturday were billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world's richest men with extensive holdings in Western companies, as well as two of the late King Abdullah's sons.The arrest of senior princes upends a longstanding tradition among the ruling Al Saud family to keep their disagreements private in an effort to show strength and unity in the face of Saudi Arabia's many tribes and factions. It also sends a message that the 32-year-old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has the full backing of his father, King Salman, to carry out sweeping anti-corruption reforms targeting senior royals and their business associates, who have long been seen as operating above the law.

Reports suggested those detained were being held at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, which only days earlier hosted a major investment conference that the crown prince attended with global business titans. A Saudi official told The Associated Press that other five-star hotels across the capital were also being used to hold some of those arrested.

Hotel bookings on hold The Ritz Carlton had no availability for bookings until Dec. 1, 2017 - a possible sign that an investigation of this scale could take weeks. Marriott International said in a statement that it is currently evaluating the situation at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, but declined to comment further, citing privacy concerns.

A Saudi government official with close ties to security forces said 11 princes and 38 others were being questioned. The official spoke to the AP on condition of

anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.The surprise arrests were immediately hailed by progovernment media outlets as the clearest sign yet that Prince Mohammed is keeping his promise to reform the country as it moves to overhaul its economy away from dependence on oil and liberalize some aspects of the ultraconservative society.

The kingdom's top council of clerics issued a public statement overnight saying it is an Islamic duty to fight corruption essentially giving religious backing to the high-level arrests.

King, Trump spoke before arrests : It's unclear if the U.S. had any advance word of the arrests. U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner and others made an unannounced trip recently to

prestigious National Guard tasked with protecting the Al Saud family, and Prince Turki bin Abdullah, who was once governor of Riyadh.

Prince Miteb was once considered a contender for the throne, though he has not been thought of recently as a challenger to Prince Mohammed.

Saudi Twitter accounts released several other names of those arrested, including: - Alwalid al-Ibrahim, a Saudi businessman with ties to the royal family who runs the Arabic satellite group MBC. - Amr al-Dabbagh, the former head of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority.

- Ibrahim Assaf, a former finance minister.

- Bakr Binladin, head of the Saudi Binladin Group, a major business conglomerate.

Potential rivals sidelined?

conservative think tank in Washington.

Hannah said Prince Mohammed has "latched onto corruption as a way to consolidate his power and remake the regime in his image," purging those who might be resistant.It is not clear what Prince Alwaleed or the others were being investigated for.

No assets frozen: Without naming those arrested, the Attorney General's office said "the suspects are being granted the same rights and treatment as any other Saudi citizen." The statement did not disclose specific details about the investigation, but stressed that

Riyadh. Earlier on Saturday, Trump said he spoke to King Salman, though the White House readout of that call did not include any reference to the impending arrests.The Saudi government says the arrests are part of a wider effort to increase transparency, accountability and good governance - key reforms needed to attract greater international investments and appease a Saudi public that has for decades complained of rampant government corruption and misuse of public funds by top officials. Volatility from surprise moves reshaping the kingdom, however, are likely to worry investors.

Among those reportedly taken into custody were two sons of the late King Abdullah: Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, who Saturday evening was ousted from his post as head of the

Analysts have suggested the arrest of once-untouchable members of the royal family is a clear sign that the crown prince is sidelining potential rivals for the throne.The young prince has risen from near obscurity to become Saudi Arabia's most talked about and powerful prince in less than three years since his father ascended to the throne.

The prince's swift rise to power has unnerved more experienced, elder members of the royal family, which has long ruled by consensus, though ultimate decision-making remains with the monarch.The moves in Saudi Arabia mirrored those in China, where President Xi Jinping has used corruption charges "as a battering ram to consolidate his own power and authority," said John Hannah, the senior counselor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a

no assets have yet been frozen and that individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty.A high-level employee at Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co. told the AP that the royal was among those detained.

The senior employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of repercussions, said security bodies informed him of the arrest.

Prince Alwaleed's many investments include Twitter, Apple, Citigroup, and the Four Seasons hotel chain. He is also an investor in ride-sharing services Lyft and Careem. He was once a significant shareholder in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, but sold much of those shares in 2015.

The prince, pictured sometimes on his 85-metre super-yacht in the Mediterranean, is among the most outspoken Saudi royals

and a longtime advocate of women's rights. He is also majority owner of the popular Rotana Group of Arabic channels.

Company stock price drops: After word of his arrest, his company's stock dropped 7.6 per cent in trading Sunday on the Saudi stock exchange.

An earlier crackdown this year on perceived critics of the crown prince included clerics and lesser-known princes.

In July, Prince Mohammed's most formidable challenger to the throne, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, was plucked from the line of succession and ousted from his post as interior minister, overseeing internal security. This laid the groundwork for the king's son to claim the mantle of crown prince.

'Historic and big day': Saudi Arabia to end ban on women driving Saudi Arabia to let women enter sports stadiums in 2018 Prince Mohammed's gambles have not always succeeded. A years-long war he has overseen as defense minister against Iranian-allied rebels in Yemen has not made the kingdom safer.As news was unfolding about the anti-corruption probe, Saudi Arabia said late Saturday it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen at Riyadh International Airport, on the outskirts of the capital.

"The dismissals and detentions suggest that Prince Mohammed rather than forging alliances is extending his iron grip to the ruling family, the military, and the national guard to counter what appears to be more widespread opposition within the family as well as the military to his reforms and the Yemen war," James M. Dorsey, a Gulf specialist and senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said in an analysis of the shake-up.

Pakistani officials blame India for Punjab smog, experts refute ISLAMABAD Refuting Pakistani officials' claim that stubble burning and coalfired power plants in India are to be blamed for the deadly smog in Punjab, the country's top scientists have asserted that its source is in the Middle East.

Citing the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, the officials had claimed that it had spotted 2,620 fire incidents in Indian Punjab on November 2, while there were only 27 such cases in Pakistan’s Punjab.

A large swath of Pakistan's Punjab has been reportedly covered with a thick blanket of

smog for the past three days, causing traffic problems, power outages, and respiratory illnesses among people.

The situation is particularly ‘alarming’ in the south and central districts of Punjab which had witnessed a similar situation around the same time last year, the Express Tribune reported.

Pakistani officials fear that the smog, besides affecting health, would also affect agriculture and livestock, which in turn will hurt the national economy.

However, a top Pakistani scientist has refuted the claim, saying the main source of the smog is trans-boundary pollution

originating in the Middle East.

“Every year the Middle Eastern countries, especially Iraq, Syria, and Iran, are hit by heavy sand and dust storms, which form dust clouds,” Asif Shuja, an exdirector general of the Environmental Protection Agency was quoted as saying.

“These dust clouds travel thousands of kilometers to other countries, including Pakistan, mostly in April-June and September-November,” he said.

Shuja said the impact is severe this year due to the continued dry spell in the country.

“This situation would have a negative impact on health,

livestock, besides affecting agriculture, transport and flight operations,” said Pervaiz Amir,

accidents in Punjab because of poor visibility due to smog.

The authorities had to also shut

former member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Climate Change.At least 17 people were reportedly killed in road

down several nuclear power plants of 1,200-megawatt capacities on Friday due to the heavy smog.

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The 9 largest employers in the world These are the ten largest employers in the world according to BBC. Notably most of them are state owned compani

The United States Department of Defense is the largest employer in the world, with 3.2 million employees

People's Liberation Army: 2.3 million

Walmart: 2.1 million

McDonald's: 1.9 million (including franchises)

National Health Service: 1.7 million

China National Petroleum Corporation: 1.6 million

State Grid Corporation of China: 1.5 million

Indian Railways: 1.4 million

Indian Armed Forces: 1.3 million

Why we love a pint books in America The most offensive library

The taste of beer releases 'feel-good' chemical dopamine in our brains The taste of beer releases a chemical in the brain which makes people want to drink more, research published today

claims.Beer's taste without even any effect from alcohol - can trigger the production of dopamine in the brain, the study by researchers from Indiana University found.People with a family history of alcoholism also showed even higher levels of dopamine a

neurotransmitter associated with the brain's reward and pleasure centres.Dr David Kareken, deputy director of the Indiana Alcohol Research Center, said: 'We believe this is the first experiment in humans to show that the taste of an alcoholic drink alone, without any intoxicating effect from the alcohol, can elicit this dopamine activity in the brain's reward centres.'

The study scanned the brains of 49 men after drinking beer and after tasting Gatorade, a sports drink.Results revealed significantly more dopamine activity following the taste of beer than Gatorade.Participants also said they craved beer after tasting the small sample and did not get the same response with the sports drink, even though many thought it tasted better.

Each man was given just 15 ml of their preferred beer over a 15-minute

period, so they would not feel the effects of alcohol.

Giving reaction to the findings, Dai Stephens, professor of experimental psychology at the University of Sussex, described the paper as 'a first convincing demonstration in humans that a drink's flavour has such effects on the brain'.

But he added: 'While suggestive, the findings cannot with certainty be ascribed to conditioning.

However, more provocatively, the study also suggests that not all beer drinkers show the same effect.'Peter Anderson, professor of substance use, policy, and practice, Newcastle University, added: 'It is well known that all sorts of cues, including taste, smell, images, and habits raise desire for drinking. 'This desire often appears to be dose dependent - meaning larger when average consumption is larger. This paper demonstrates that taste alone impacts on the brain functions associated with

desire. This is not surprising - if taste increases desire, it has to impact on brain functions.

'With regard to the family history effect, this is quite difficult to assess and know what it means so we can't be too sure of an effect or how strong it might be', he said.David Linden, professor of translational neuroscience, Cardiff University, said that we are 'still very far away from understanding the biological processes that contribute to risk of alcohol abuse'.He added: 'Alcohol abuse is a major public health concern, and it would be of great interest to have markers of predisposition to problem use of alcohol to enable early intervention.

'However, the presented effects are small and results have to be considered as preliminary, and the higher release of dopamine to beer compared to Gatorade flavours was not associated with actual drinking behaviour or dependence.'

And Fifty Shades of Grey comes in fourth Erotic fiction trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey is one of the most complained about books on America's library shelves, according to a new study.E L James' multimillion selling novel is at number four on the American Library Association's annual study of 'challenged books' - works subject to complaints from parents, educators and other members of the public. The objections were for offensive language and graphic sexual content.First on the list were Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants books, followed

by Sherman Alexie's prizewinning The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why.Also on the list, at number ten, was Nobel laureate Toni Morrison's 'Beloved,' with objections raised about it being sexually explicit and violent.'It's pretty exciting to be on a list that frequently features Mark Twain, Harper Lee, and Maya Angelou,' Mr Pilkey said in a statement. 'But I worry that some parents might see this list and discourage their kids from reading Captain Underpants, even though they have not had a chance to read the books themselves.' The library association's Office for Intellectual Freedom defines a challenge as a 'formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness.' The office received 464 challenges last year, a jump of more 25 per cent from 2011, but still low compared to the 1980s and 90s. Exact numbers, including how many books were actually pulled, are hard to calculate.

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Anger over US coal role at climate talks

LOS ANGELES Plans by the Trump administration to promote coal as a solution to climate change at a major UN meeting have angered environmentalists.

An adviser to the president is expected to take part in a procoal presentation in Bonn next week.Separately, a group of governors will say that the US is still committed to climate action despite Mr Trump’s rejection of the Paris agreement.

The talks begin on Monday and aim to flesh out the rules for the Paris pact This meeting, officially known as COP23, will be the first full gathering of climate negotiators since President Trump vowed to take the US out of the Paris treaty.

“The bottom line is that the Paris Accord is very unfair, at the highest level, to the United States,” he said last June, announcing the US intention to withdraw.

Five effects of US pullout from Paris climate deal However under the rules, the US cannot leave the agreement until 2020 so they will be sending a team of negotiators to this meeting.

President Trump declared in June that the US would withdraw from the “unfair” Paris pact However the official US delegation, mainly career civil

servants, may well be overshadowed by other groups with very different visions for how the US should combat climate change.

According to reports, members of the Trump administration, will lend their support to an event to promote fossil fuels and nuclear power as solutions to climate change.Speakers from coal giant

“It is undeniable that fossil fuels will be used for the foreseeable future, and it is in everyone’s interest that they be efficient and clean,” the spokesman said.

The prospect of fossil fuel industries making their case at this meeting has angered some who will attending.

“Fossil fuels having any role in tackling climate change is

Peabody Energy, among others, will make a presentation to highlight the role that coal and other fuels can play in curbing the impacts of rising temperatures.

A White House spokesman said in a statement that the discussion aims to build on the administration’s efforts to promote fossil fuels at the G20 meeting this year.

beyond absurd. It is dangerous,” said Andrew Norton, director of the International Institute for Environment and Development.

“These talks are no place for pushing the fossil fuel agenda.

The US needs to come back to the table and help with the rapid cuts in emissions that the situation demands.”

“It’s not a credible solution, but that doesn’t seem to bother

Abe duels with ‘long hitter’ Trump on golf course KAWAGOE Golfing buddies Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe relaxed with a hamburger lunch and a quick nine holes on the course Sunday, ahead of a high-stakes summit on the North Korea crisis.

After a business lunch of burgers with US beef - a possible cue to discuss trade issues - the pair

donned golfing kit for a round at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, which will host the event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

They played with Hideki Matsuyama, one of the world’s top golfers, and Trump had warm words for his skills.

“He is the greatest player in the history of Japan. Possibly their greatest celebrity... He’s a truly great player, a great athlete,” Trump told reporters on Air Force

One. Trump described Matsuyama as a “long ball hitter” but could not resist adding: “I hit the ball pretty long.”

However, he graciously conceded that Matsuyama was likely to tee off further than him and warned the press of possible fake news.

“If I come back and say I was longer than him, don’t believe it.”

Inside, the two leaders signed white caps that read, “Donald and Shinzo Make Alliance Even Greater.”

Abe and Trump played golf when the Japanese prime minister visited the United States in February, with the Japanese leader keen to stress that his skills were not on a par with Trump’s.

At the time Trump tweeted a photograph in which he was wearing a white baseball cap and polo shirt, high-fiveing Abe who was dressed in white pants and a navy blue cap.

The two have enjoyed a nearbromance forged by a shared

love of golf. Trump has praised Abe’s “strong hands” and a “very, very good chemistry” between them.

When they met at the Country Club, they greeted each other warmly, grasping each other’s elbows under a clear blue Tokyo sky.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Trump said on the plane.

Abe also appeared to have enjoyed his round, tweeting: “A round of golf with a marvellous friend (President Donald J. Trump), full of spirited conversation.”

He posted a picture of the pair apparently in earnest conversation strolling down the fairway, Abe in an indigo golfing jacket and blue cap, Trump in a grey jumper and white cap.

Trump also tweeted a video of him playing a shot under the caption: “Playing golf with Prime Minister Abe and Hideki Matsuyama, two wonderful people!”

Abe told reporters after the game: “I think a golf course enabled us to get relaxed and to have candid talks on various issues.”

The discussions also revolved around some “difficult issues”, Abe said, adding: “I think President Trump enjoyed it very much. I had a very good time, too.”A senior Trump administration official said the two leaders talked trade and North Korea during their round.

them,” said long time talks participant Alden Meyer from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“They might even welcome some of the reaction to show to their base that they are fighting for America’s interest and not this globalist malarky.”

‘Much of America supports Paris deal’ : Environmentalists point to the contradiction of the Trump administration championing fossil fuels while an authoritative National Climate Assessment report, released on the eve of COP23, is clear that CO2 from these fuels is the key cause of climate change.

The report says “that it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.”Other groups, opposed to the Trump perspective, will also be paying for a large pavilion at the talks.

Fiji which is chairing this year’s talks, has experienced the impacts of extreme weather Delegations of US governors, mayors and business people, under the We Are Still In coalition umbrella, will be in Bonn to tell negotiators that below the Federal level, much of America still supports the Paris Agreement.The US Climate Alliance, which represents 14 states and one territory, says that it speaks for around 36% of the US population and if it were a nation state would be the third biggest economy in the world.

One of the governors who will be

on the ground in Bonn is Washington’s Jay Inslee. “We need to make sure that world maintains confidence in our ability to move forward,” he told reporters.“So far, not one single nation state, city or county, municipality or school district have followed Donald Trump into the ranks of surrendering to climate change since he pulled out of Paris - his decision has energised our efforts.”

This determination to remain part of Paris is also being reflected at city level in many parts of the US .“Whatever ‘America first’ is supposed to mean, it absolutely does not mean America alone,” said Mayor Lionel Johnson from the city of St Gabriel in Louisiana.

“My fellow mayors and I stand united and we stand with the international community to pursue solutions to the dramatic climate challenges we are facing together. Count us in!”

Apart from the confusion over who is speaking for the US , the talks will focus on establishing rules and guidelines for the Paris pact. These need to be agreed by the end of 2018.

The talks are being chaired by Fiji, which is the first time a small island developing state has taken this role . As such questions of climate impacts are likely to be in the spotlight, including the tricky question of loss and damage.

This is a potential area of significant disagreement as the richer countries are strongly opposed to any implied legal liability for the damages caused by climate related extreme weather events.

Around 20,000 delegates and visitors will attend the meeting over two weeks.

New London pollution tax comes into force

LONDON Drivers of the most polluting vehicles will face an extra daily charge for driving into central London on weekdays from Monday in a bid to improve air quality in one of Europe’s most polluted cities. London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the new £10 (11.2-euro, $13.2) charge which will be on top of a daily £11.50 congestion charge - in February, after the European Union ordered Britain to cut air pollution.“As mayor I am determined to take urgent action to help clean up London’s lethal air,” Khan said in a statement.

“The shameful scale of the public health crisis London faces, with thousands of premature deaths caused by air pollution , must be addressed,” he added. The charge applies to all petrol and

diesel cars that were registered before the introduction of environmentally friendly Euro 4 emissions standards. Transport for Londonsaid that anyone with a vehicle registered before 2008 should check if it might be eligible for the charge.

The charge is intended to prepare Londoners for the introduction of an Ultra-Low Emission Zone across the city centre from April 2019.

The European Commission in February issued a warning to five member states including Britain, urging them to take action on car pollution or risk being sent to the European Court of Justice. The European Commission said that “persistently high” levels of nitrogen dioxide caused 70,000 premature deaths in Europe in 2013.

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US ground invasion of North Korea needed to secure nuclear sites, says Pentagon The only way to locate and secure all of North Korea’s nuclear weapons sites “with complete certainty” is through an invasion of ground forces, and in the event of conflict, Pyongyang could use biological and chemical weapons, the Pentagon told politicians in a new, blunt assessment of what war on the Korean Peninsula might look like.

The Pentagon, in a letter to politicians, said that a full discussion of US capabilities to “counter North Korea’s ability to respond with a nuclear weapon and to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear weapons located in deeply buried, underground facilities” is best suited for a classified briefing.

The letter also said that Pentagon leaders “assess that North Korea may consider the use of biological weapons” and that the country “has a longstanding chemical weapons program with the capability to produce nerve, blister, blood and choking agents.”

The Pentagon repeated that a detailed discussion of how the United States would respond to the threat could not be discussed in public.The letter was written

by Rear Admiral Michael J Dumont, the vice director of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, in response to a request for information from two House members about “expected casualty assessments in a conflict with North Korea,” including for civilians and US and allied forces in South Korea, Japan and Guam.“A decision to attack or invade another country will have ramifications for our troops and taxpayers, as well as the region, for decades,” Ted Lieu (Democrat, California) and Ruben Gallego (Democrat,

Arizona) wrote to the Pentagon.

“We have not heard detailed analysis of expected US or allied force casualties, expected civilian casualties, what plans exist for the aftermath of a strike - including continuity of the South Korean Government.”

The Pentagon said that calculating “best-or worst-case casualty scenarios” was challenging and would depend on the “nature, intensity and duration” of a North Korean attack; how much warning civilians would have to get to the thousands of shelters in South Korea; and the ability of US and South Korean forces to respond to North Korean artillery, rockets and ballistic missiles with their own retaliatory barrage and air strikes.

The letter noted that Seoul, the South Korean capital, is a densely populated area with 25 million residents.

Any operation to pursue North Korean nuclear weapons would likely be spearheaded by US Special Operations troops. Last year, President Barack Obama and then-Defence Secretary Ashton B Carter gave US Special Operations Command a new, leading role coordinating the Pentagon’s effort to counter weapons of mass destruction.

SOCOM did not receive any new legal authorities for the mission but gained influence in how the military responds to such threats.Elite US forces have long trained to respond in the case of a so-called “loose nuke” in the hands of terrorists. But senior officials said SOCOM is increasingly focused on North Korea.Dumont said the military backs the current US strategy on North Korea, which is led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and focuses on ratcheting up

Is Dhoni still a viable option in T20Is for India?

RAJKOT : It’s a moment which told us much about Mahendra Singh Dhoni's gymnastic abilities. It didn't take long for trolls on social media to get after the former India skipper's case after he did a 'split' in an attempt to reach his crease after New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner foxed him with a widish delivery.

On a serious note, a few months after he sliced his detractors with a series of good performances, the veteran 'keeper-bat stares at that uncomfortable question gain. While he still looks in command in the 50-over game, the 36-year-old's rather lackluster 37-ball 49 in India's 40-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the second Twenty20 International at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) stadium here does put a question mark over his utility and effectiveness in the game's shortest format.

It would be cruel to blame Dhoni alone for the loss, which brought the Kiwis back into the series, for he walked in with India down in the dumps at 67 for four after 55 deliveries into the innings. It meant that, at that stage, the hosts needed 130 runs in 65 balls — certainly a tall ask even by today's slam bang T20 standards.

The problem, however, is that Dhoni's reluctance, inability or good bowling from the Black Caps, whatever it was, made the target even more stiffer. In typical fashion, he danced down the track to loft leggie Ish Sodhi for his first six, but by then, he had consumed 20 balls for his 17, preferring to take singles when a few boundaries were mandatory. At that point in time, skipper Virat Kohli was going great guns, and needed some impetus from the other end, which only came from Dhoni when the game was well and truly in the Black Caps' bag.

economic and diplomatic pressure as the primary effort to get North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to stop developing nuclear weapons. Tillerson, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis

draws attention to its plans for an underground hunt for nuclear weapons.Air Force Colonel Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said that Dumont and other Pentagon officials had

and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, General Joseph F Dunford Jr, have emphasized that during trips to Seoul this year.In contrast, Donald Trump, who goes unmentioned in the Pentagon letter, has taunted Kim as “Rocket Man” and expressed frustration with diplomatic efforts, hinting that he is considering preemptive military force.“I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” Trump tweeted on 1 October, adding, “Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!”

On 7 October, Trump added in additional tweets that North Korea had “made fools” of US negotiators. “Sorry, but only one thing will work!” he said.

Mattis and other Pentagon leaders have often cited the grave threat faced by Seoul, but the military much less frequently

no additional comment about the letter.A senior US military official in South Korea, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations, said that while the 28,500 US troops in South Korea maintain a high degree of readiness, he “has to believe” that North Korea does not want a war, given all of the nations aligned against it.

“If you open the history books, this is not the first time that we’ve been in a heavy provocation cycle,” the official said. On the side of South Korea and the United States, he said, “there is no action taken without extreme consideration of not putting this in a position where a fight is going to happen.”

Dumont’s letter also notes that “we have not seen any change in the offensive posture of North Korea’s forces.”

A statement by 16 politicians, released simultaneously with the Pentagon letter, urged Trump to

stop making “provocative statements” that impede diplomatic efforts and risk the lives of US troops.The Pentagon’s “assessment underscores what we’ve known all along: There are no good military options for North Korea,” said the statement, organized by Lieu and Gallego and signed by 14 other members of Congress who are veterans, all but one of them Democrats.

In a telephone interview, Lieu said that the intent of asking the Pentagon for information was to spell out the cataclysmic consequences of war with North Korea and the aftermath.“It’s important for people to understand what a war with a nuclear power would look like,” said Lieu, citing estimates of 300,000 dead in the first few days alone. More than 100,000 Americans are potentially at risk.

Lieu, who spent part of his time in the Air Force on Guam preparing for military action against North Korea, called the letter a confirmation that a conflict would result in a “bloody, protracted ground war.” The Joint Chiefs, he believes, are “trying to send a message to the American public,” he said.

“This is grim,” Lieu said. “We need to understand what war means. And it hasn’t been articulated very well. I think they’re trying to articulate some of that.”

Gallego said that he wanted information because of what he sees as a cavalier attitude in the White House about military action in North Korea. The idea that a ground invasion would be needed to secure nuclear weapons is eye-opening, he said, and raises the possibility of the US military losing thousands of troops.

Donkeys Named After Ram Rahim Honeypreet Sold For Rs. 11,000 At Ujjain Fair UJJAIN, MADHYA PRADESH: At the annual donkey fair held in this temple town in Madhya Pradesh, a pair of donkeys named after self-styled religious

their donkeys after GST, 'Sultan', Bahubali and Jio. The pair of donkeys with names of Singh -- convicted in two cases of rape, and his adopted

guru Ram Rahim Singh and his close aide Honeypreet was sold for Rs. 11,000.According to organisers, sellers usually give 'fancy' names to sell donkeys although their breed and physical features count a lot in cutting a deal.Some traders had named

daughter Honeypreet Insan, booked for inciting violence after his arrest -- written on them was purchased by a Rajasthanbased trader yesterday, the last day of the five-day-long fair.

The seller Hariom Prajapat, who had brought the pair of donkeys

from Gujarat, today said he wanted to close the deal for Rs. 20,000, but eventually settled at the lower price."I couldn't find the buyer who was ready to pay Rs. 20,000 for the donkeys. Finally, I had to sell them at Rs. 11,000," he said.

When asked why he chose to name the donkeys after the jailed Dera Sachha Sauda chief and Honeypreet Insan, Mr Prajapat said he wanted to send out a message that the duo had to pay for their acts.

In the annual fair, held near the banks of Shipra river, the animals were brought for sell from the states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Gujarat besides from Madhya Pradesh.Organisers of the event said around 2,000 donkeys were brought for sale this year. The Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) provided various facilities at the event.

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BONHOMIE Nobody can affect my relationship with MS: Kohli

THEIR bonding has become stronger with the passage of time and skipper Virat Kohli is proud of the fact that no external force has been able to affect his friendship with predecessor

Mahendra Singh Dhoni. “A lot of people try to plug in stories of rift between us.

The best part is neither he reads those articles nor do I. And when the people see us together, they wonder ‘wasn’t

there rift between the two”. “We laugh amongst ourselves and say we didn’t know there was one,” Kohli said during an episode of web-series ‘Breakfast With Champions’. Australian cricket great Matthew Hayden had once said that Dhoni is someone who finds things funny that only sevenyear-olds would. “I guess Hayden is not off the mark, grinned the current India captain. Lot of people don’t know but he has childlike enthusiasm.

He gets intrigued by things easily and is always looking for something new that will interest him,” Kohli said. Kohli recalled a funny anecdote from his younger days which he had shared with Dhoni and how he literally burst out laughing. “I once told him a funny story of my U-17 days. It was my academy’s match. There was this new boy and I threw the ball at him and asked ‘kahaan se’ (meaning from which end will you bowl). The boy answered: ‘Bhaiya Najafgarh se’! When I recollected this incident and told MS about it, he started laughing and this was happening as the match was on,” Kohli said. Kohli may be calling the shots now but his reverence for Dhoni is there to be seen.

“I don’t think I have ever come across a better cricketing brain just in terms of planning, knowing what’s happening in the game and what can be done.”

“Obviously, I go by my instincts but whenever I ask him anything 8 or 9 out of 10 times what he says, works. Our friendship has only grown over the years,” Kohli said. For those who were sceptical about how easy the transition would be, Kohli lauded Dhoni for making it smooth. “The transition happened so smoothly. No one on the field (players) felt that there has been a change. Everything is happening smoothly and I am happy that he is there by my side during my initial years of captaincy. I am lucky to have him.”

Kohli went to the extent of stating that at the crease he has blind faith in Dhoni’s abilities. “MS and me have a great understanding. While running between the wickets, if he says two, I just close my eyes and run because I know that his judgement is so correct, I will make it.” Two of the funniest and unassuming characters in the team, according to Kohli, are Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan. Hardik Pandya carries Ipod but it only has English songs downloaded. He doesn’t know even five words of any of those English songs. He just wants to groove to the beat. Hardik is an entertainer.” Kohli also recalled a hilarious incident involving Dhawan from their Ranji Trophy days.

COACH HARENDRA HAPPY Jasprit Bumrah has worked a lot on his WITH TEAM’S EFFORTS action, says Bhuvneshwar Kumar

INDIAN hockey women’s team coach Harendra Singh on Sunday gave full marks to his team for winning the Asia Cup. “Please give all credit to the girls for their efforts on the field. As coach, my job was to motivate and instill in them confidence and give it a 100 per cent effort,” Harendra told this paper. Having taken over in September from Sjoerd Marijne, Harendra did not have much time to prepare the team. “My main job was to ensure these girls would not worry about rankings and so on. Rankings are just numbers is what I believe. In the Rio Olympics, rankings were thrown out. I told the girls just perform and do not worry about opposition,” he said. Harendra said the girls have made improvement in fitness but “a lot more work has to be done in this area.” “What makes me most happy is we have earned our place to compete

in the FIH World Cup in 2018. We will be there as continental champions and not in the draw because of results from other countries. This needs to be celebrated,” said Harendra. Talking about the penalty shoot out, the coach said there was nothing to worry about. “I told the girls you score three goals and my goalkeeper (Savita) will save at least two. The result is there for all to see,” he said, Before the tournament, Harendra had a pep talk with the side. “I told the girls I am not a coach just for participation. I ensure players compete at full energy and I can provide them with positive strength. I rotated all the 18 players in the tournament and each time a player with fresh legs enters the field it’s always better,” said Harendra. The coach feels this is just a beginning and there is plenty of work to be done in the next one year.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Bhuvneshwar Kumar has witnessed Jasprit Bumrahevolve into a potent weapon for India and said that the Gujarat bowler has worked a lot on his action, which is paying dividends.

Asked what is the secret of Bumrah’s success, Bhuvneshwar replied:”Bumrah has a different action, which creates problems for the batsmen. He has improved a lot of things with his action.

He had these yorkers and slower ones earlier as well but he has improved a lot.”

Bhuvneshwar said that he has confidence in Bumrah that he can bowl well at the death. “When you bowl with Bumrah, you have confidence that if you need to save runs later (at the death), if you bowl well, he will also do it with me.”

India’s new ball pair also communicates a lot and discusses strategies.

“Another good thing is that when the match begins, we talk to each other about the track, what strategy we can make.

It’s of great help for both the bowlers,” he

added.

He also said that despite losing the second T20I by 40 runs at Rajkot, the team was not missing a specialist fifth bowler.

“You cannot blame bowlers for the loss.

The other team is there to play as well.

We have played good cricket against Australia and even when we toured the West Indies. The three-match series are very small and if you lose the first game and then tie it 1-1, you have to play a decider,” he said.

“As far as a fifth bowler is concerned, we have Hardik Pandya and others bowl part-time. We haven’t missed an extra specialist bowler so far. If your main bowlers do not take a wicket or go for runs, then you miss a bowler. But we think a lot about team combination.”

Asked who was the most difficult New Zealand batsman to bowl to, Kumar said Colin Munro had done particularly well but there were other quality batsmen too.

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Would you dare visit this ‘cursed tomb’

ARCHAEOLOGISTS in Egypt have reopened a ‘cursed tomb’ containing the remains of the people who built the Great Pyramid of Giza to visitors. It is the first time it has been opened to the public since its discovery almost 30 years ago. The area dates back 4,500 years and is located in the ‘tribal mountain’ area, near the Pyramid of Giza.

The Press Office of the Ministry of Antiquities shared the revelation on Instagram with a picture, saying ‘Opening the workers cemetery site at Giza Plateau to visit’. Experts with the Ministry have been working to restore and develop the site as part of a plan to open more archaeological sites to the public to boost tourism. The project includes the construction of a visitor’s centre, administrative offices, and tourism and antiquities police centres.

Paving all the roads around the plateau and those connecting the entrance gate to the exit is also part of the first phase. The newly opened area contains a cemetery of workers along with the graves of the supervisor of the royal palace, the supervisor of the construction workers and a man of significance who was buried with the workers, according to a report. The site has been closed off since 1990.

Archaeologists from the Ministry of Antiquities believe the man who supervised the workers filled the cemetery with curses to protect the dead from thieves. In his book Valley of the Golden Mummies, archaeologist Zahi Hawass says that the tombs of the builders of the Great Pyramid of Giza included the warning ‘All people who enter this tomb who will make evil against this tomb and destroy it may the crocodile be against them in water, and snakes against them on land.

‘May the hippopotamus be against them in water, the scorpion against them on land.’

The tomb of the royal palace supervisor, known as Nefer

Thieth, was well preserved and was found to have two fake doors and inscriptions along the walls. He had two wives and eighteen children. As well as opening up the three tombs, Ashraf Mohi, director general of the effects of the Pyramids of Giza, said two other tombs discovered in the same cemetery have been reopened — including the tomb of Khufu Khaf, the son of King Khufu, who ruled between 2589–2566 B.C. His is

a double tomb with the north chapel, dedicated to his wife Nefretka and the south to the prince himself. The other tomb is Seshem Nefer 4, which dates to the Sixth Dynasty, around 2340 B.C. This grave includes images of the cemetery owner with his family, bulls being slaughtered and animals being hunted.

According to archeaologist Zahi Hawass, who worked for the ministry when the tomb was discovered, workers

probably worked year round at the site. Experts now believe they are on the brink of finding a hidden ‘recess’ in the Great Pyramid of Giza. A project called ‘ScanPyramids’ is using infrared thermography among other techniques to find out the secrets of this hidden chamber and date artefacts. Also known as Khufu Pyramid, it stands at 479 feet (146 metres) high and was the world’s tallest man-made structure for nearly 4,000 years.

‘ScanPyramids’ is among the most ambitious of the projects to demystify the Khufu Pyramid near Cairo, which was completed in about 2560 BC. ‘All the devices are designed to find where the cavity is located. We know there is one, but we’re trying to find out where,’ said Mehdi Tayoubi, president of the HIP Institute heading the ScanPyramids project. It is the only surviving monument from the ancient Seven Wonders of the World.

because she was fed up with people like Harvey Weinstein.

She also said she would make it

offence to wear a skirt longer than 40cm. The model who is known for posting saucy videos on social media said: “I made this decision recently, because women are actively taking part in the presidential campaign.”

“Some of them are from show business, I ran for mayor of Sochi and took have taken part in politics, so I decided to run for the President of Russia.” “I plan to make divorces almost impossible for men, as these days women bear almost all the

responsibility for children. I plan to introduce sexual and legal education in schools. And to introduce a mandatory sex exam,” she added/ According to Berkova, he youth doesn’t know about sexual legal norms, hygiene and pleasure. She added: “Censorship on clothes.

For example - a violation of public order should be wearing a skirt above 40cm.” And she has called for strong laws to cut down on sexual harassment. “The death penalty for harassment. We’ve

got the Weinsteins, too,” she said. Her campaign has been met with mixed reactions from her 639,000 followers.

Porn star Elena to fight Putin in elections

AN EX-RUSSIAN porn star is the latest woman to announce shell be standing against Russian President Vladimir Putin in next year’s presidential elections.

Busty brunette Elena Berkova from the city of Murmansk in northwest Russia, who also stood for mayor of Sochi, posted a video on Instagram outlining her plans. The 32-year-old mum-oftwo, who will be the fourth female candidate to run for office, said she would introduce the death penalty for sexual harassment

almost impossible for men to divorce, introduce sex education in schools, and make it an

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Children access porn sites from age SIX And begin flirting online at aged eight Children start watching porn on the internet from the age of six and will start flirting online when they are just eight-yearsold, a study has revealed.

More than 19,000 parents worldwide took part in a survey, with data compiled using information on which sites they choose to block and which their children have access to regularly. The study found that almost a quarter of children had at least one social network account by the time they were 12-years-old and that most lie about their age when creating their online profiles. To join Facebook, for example, you have to be 13-yearsold.Disturbingly, two per cent of computer addicts were just fiveyears-old and 17 per cent were social media users by age 10.

Overall, kids are turning to computer games and things like instant messaging at a younger age than they did a few years ago. The study was published by Bitdefender, the

creator of some of the Internet's best antivirus software.It also found that gaming, hacking and so-called

they will find a way to things parents would like to ban forever.'Jo Webber, CEO of Virtual Piggy, a website that

'hate' websites, where young people are free to use profanity are go-to sites for children.

Bitdefender Chief Security Strategist Catalin Cosoi told USA Today: 'Kids nowadays are acting like young adults online - just give them an Internet-connected device, and

enables kids to manage and spend money within a parentcontrolled environment, said: 'Kids lie about their age to get access to something they want to explore, in this case a social network. It's no different than my generation lying about age to get cigarettes or into a bar.'

Do’environmentally friendly’ LED lights cause BLINDNESS? Eco-friendly LED lights may damage your eyes, according to new research.

A study has discovered that exposure to LED lights can cause irreparable harm to the retina of the human eye.LED lights have been touted as a super-efficient alternative to traditional bulbs because they use up to 85 per cent less energy and each bulb can last up to 10 years.In April, Philips, the world's biggest lighting maker, reported a 38 per cent jump in LED light sales from last year.They are already widely used in mobile phones, televisions, computer screens and can also be fitted as a replacement for traditional lighting in the home.The government's Enhanced Capital Allowance Scheme, which was brought in to help cut UK carbon emissions, is also pushing the use of the lighting by offering businesses added tax relief if they use LED and other lowenergy bulbs.Dr. Celia Sánchez-Ramos, of Complutense University in Madrid and who led the study, explained that light from LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, comes from the short-wave, highenergy blue and violet end of the visible light spectrum.She said that prolonged, continuous exposure to this light may be enough to damage a person's retina.The retina is composed of light-sensitive tissue that is

responsible for detecting light and in turn allowing us to see.

'This problem is going to get worse, because humans are living longer and children are using electronic devices from a young age, particularly for schoolwork,' Sánchez-Ramos told ThinkSpain.com. 'Eyes are not designed to look directly at

light - they are designed to see with light,' Sánchez-Ramos said.Her comments are partly based on her 2012 study that was published in the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology. The study found that LED radiation caused significant damage to human retinal pigment epithelial cells in vitro.Sánchez-Ramos added that modern humans have their eyes open for roughly 6,000 hours a year, and are exposed to artificial light for the majority of that time.Some experts have called for the LED lights to have built-in filters to cut out the blue glare.This is not the first time energy-saving lights have come under scrutiny for safety reasons. Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, have been criticized for the high levels of mercury they contain as well as the UV radiation they can emit.

Natural sex supplements bought online may contain dangerous prescription drugs People should not buy sex supplements online because they may contain secretly added prescription medications, according to scientists in America.Experts at Harvard Medical School say that there is no scientific evidence to suggest that sexual enhancement supplements are effective.

They also claim that the supplements could cause serious harm.The researchers are warning that supplement manufacturers sometimes add undisclosed prescription drugs, such as Viagra, to their products to make them more effective.

Live Science reported that the secretly added drugs are sometimes untested versions of the prescription medications meaning that they are not known to be safe. Even if they are legitimate medications, they can cause side effects such as low blood pressure if unwittingly taken alongside other medications.Dr Pieter Cohen, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a general internist at Cambridge

Health Alliance in Boston, told Live Science: 'These products either do not work, or if they do work, are potentially harmful, because they contain undisclosed drugs.'

Four years ago more than 12 people in Asia died after taking

sex supplements which were laced with large quantities of a diabetes medication.To avoid a similar situation in Europe and the U.S. Dr Cohen is calling for greater regulation of online supplements.

People should eat more insects to fight hunger and reduce pollution, U.N says The U.N. has new weapons to fight hunger, boost nutrition and reduce pollution.But the answer to food crises around the world may not be that palatable because they want people to eat insects.The Food and Agriculture Organization on Monday hailed the likes of grasshoppers, ants and other members of the insect world as an underutilized food for people, livestock and pets.

A 200-page report, released at a news conference at the U.N. agency's Rome headquarters, says 2 billion people worldwide already supplement their diets with insects, which are high in protein and minerals, and have environmental benefits.

Insects are 'extremely efficient' in converting feed into edible meat, the agency said. On average, they can convert 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of feed into 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of insect mass. In comparison, cattle require 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds) of feed to produce a kilo of meat.

Most insects are likely to produce fewer environmentally harmful greenhouse gases, and also feed on human and food waste, compost and animal slurry, with the products being used for agricultural feed, the agency said. Currently, most edible insects are gathered in forests

and what insect farming does take place is often family-run and serves niche markets.But the U.N. says mechanization can ratchet up insect farming production. The fish bait industry, for example, has long farmed insects.

Insect farming is 'one of the many ways to address food and

examining the potential of arachnids, such as spiders and scorpions, although they are not strictly speaking insects.

University biologists have analyzed the nutritional value of edible insects, and some of them, such as certain beetles, ants, crickets and

feed security,' the food agency said.

'Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly,' the agency said, adding they leave a 'low environmental footprint.'

They provide high-quality protein and nutrients when compared with meat and fish and are 'particularly important as a food supplement for undernourished children,' it said.

Insects can also be rich in copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and zinc, and are a source of fibre.

The agency noted that its Edible Insect Program is also

grasshoppers, come close to lean red meat or broiled fish in terms of protein per gram (ounce).

But the question on everyone's lips is - are they tasty?

The report noted that some caterpillars in southern Africa and weaver ant eggs in Southeast Asia are considered delicacies and command high prices.

And some people who might not entertain the thought of consuming insects might already be eating them as many insects are ingested inadvertently.

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Health Stents out, pills are in

Study shows heart patients can be treated with simple medication

NOW a major life-saving stenting procedure for heart patients can be avoided as the cardiac patients can be treated through simple medication, revealed an international study, which has given a big boost to the confidence of Indian doctors to go for drug therapy instead of stent insertion. A stent is a small metal tube which is put inside the heart to open up the blocked arteries of a cardiac patient. The procedure is a boon to cardiac patients and also come as a relief from the chest pain that they suffer. Till now, experts have been advising stent for both two types of cardiac patients. The one who suffers with Stable Angina in Orbita (slight

blockage in the artery) and Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). The recent study that was published in the latest issue of Lancet medical journal, has given relief to patients diagnosed with Stable Angina in Orbita. Dr Ambuj Roy, professor of Cardiology at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) said: “This international trial on stent procedures did boost our confidence and made us believe that car - diac patients, who we previously thought would need nothing but stent insertion, can be kept on medication.” The AIIMS doctor noted that 50 out of 100 patients suffer from stable angina (who do not really need stent

operation), while other half are diagnosed with Acute Coronary Syndrome that requires stent insertion. In India, cardiac disorder is quite common, with nearly 62 million suffering blockage of arteries. As per the Global Burden of Disease study, deaths that occur due to Cardio Vascular Diseases is 272 per 1,00,000 population in India — which is higher than the global average of 235 per 1,00,000. Dr Sujay Shad, cardiac surgeon at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said previously there was a fear among patients that even if they suffer a slight pain in the chest, they have to undergo a stent surgery. The study has shown us ways to treat patients through drugs.” Dr Shad also said that patients usually come for consultation when they suffer ACS and their angioplasty often reveals that there is more than 50-pe cent of blockage i n their arteries — that then require stenting. “In Delhi about 90 per cent of cardiac patients need stenting as they report late to the hospitals. Also, sedentary lifestyle habits pose as threats,” he said. “Only if the blockage of arteries is less than 50 per cent, we treat patients through medicines and do not really suggest stent procedures.

Patients with ACS suffer chest pain suddenly, said Dr Keval Krishna, heart transplant surgeon at Max Hospital. In February this year, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) fixed a ceiling price for stents at approximately `30,000

A bracelet that beeps when you’re pregnant THE DAYS of women waiting for the home pregnancy kit to turn blue or pink/show one or two lines could be numbered, scientists say. Scientists have developed a device that monitors the heartbeat and temperature and starts bleeping when a woman is expecting. And they believe that this could mark the end of the traditional test which was developed in 1969.

The wearable sensor m e a s u r e s factors including heartbeat, temperature and ‘bioimpedance’ — how much a woman is sweating. The research was presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in San Antonio. Mohaned Shilaih, a senior researcher at the University of Zurich has developed the bracelet with Swiss company Ava. The company already produces a 18,000 (£218) device which can tell a woman when she has the best chance of getting pregnant. Dr Shilaih said, “So far, there hasn’t been a real attempt to predict pregnancy.”

When a woman gets pregnant, there are several physical parameters that change around this time, he says. These include body temperature, breathing rate, pulse rate and others. “It is

known that during pregnancy pulse rate goes up,” he added.

The reason the pulse starts speeding up during pregnancy is because of the influence of the hormone progesterone. Dr Shilaih said so far the watch had been tested over 100 monthly cycles, and had predicted 21 pregnancies. The next stage will be to do a bigger test, on 1,000 monthly cycles with 100 pregnancies. This will help refine the algorithm used to detect pregnancy.

The bracelet has to be further tested on larger populations, but Dr Shilaih said that so far “the number of cycles are too low to be trustworthy for the larger population.” He added, “However, in concept if this were to be generalisable for a larger population, then you’d probably expect, rather than waking up every morning and peeing on a stick, you would simply have Ava bracelet worn night and day. Ava would sound an alarm when pregnant.” “You won’t have to go out of your way to do something extra,” he added. There are already electronic devices which can tell when a woman is pregnant.

However, these devices detect the hormone levels in a woman’s urine in order to confirm the pregnancy.

YOUR MAKE-UP TESTERS MAY PASS ON HERPES

THEY say you should always try before you buy, and for many women it’s no different when looking for makeup. But using make-up testers in stores is probably not a good idea, a microbiologist has warned, because of the risk of herpes and salmonella.

Using the same lipstick as other people can mean picking up tiny droplets of their saliva which carry the herpes virus. Meanwhile, mascara wands or eyeliner, whether tried out as testers on make-up stands or shared between friends, may lead to a nasty case of ‘pink-eye’. Other risks from shared

make-up include salmonella and e.coli, as well as skin flare-ups from bacteria on other people’s faces. Dr Amreen Bashir, a microbiologist from Aston University in Birmingham, said: “Most people would never consider sharing a toothbrush with a stranger, yet they happily use make-up testers. There is a real risk of catching bacterial infections and herpes, as we all have different organisms living on us and one cosmetic tester can be used by 30 or 40 different people, which spreads the risk of infection.” A US woman is suing a beauty firm, claiming she picked up the herpes simplex virus, which causes cold sores

and is carried by more than two-thirds of causes blisters on lips and around the mouth of the population. Bashir confirmed this is that can last for 10 days.” “Lipsticks and make-up brushes that touch these parts of the face can spread the infection to other people.” A study of 67 cosmetics last year found three-quarters contained the staphylococcus bug. While this can live harmlessly on the skin, there are concerns that shared make-up could transmit a less friendly version – methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the deadly superbug MRSA. When it comes to eye make-up, Dr Bashir writes: “Studies have revealed that 43 possible in an article for website The per cent of eyeliners and mascara wands Conversation, in which she wrote: “Herpes contain contaminants.

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Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients: 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks 2 tablespoons white wine 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided 2 tablespoons cornstarch, dis-

solved in 2 tablespoons water 1 ounce hot chile paste 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar 2 teaspoons brown sugar 4 green onions, chopped 1 tablespoon chopped garlic 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts 4 ounces chopped peanuts

Directions: To Make Marinade: Combine 1 tablespoon wine, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon cornstarch/water mixture and mix together. Place chicken pieces in a glass dish or bowl and add marinade.

Toss to coat. Cover dish and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes. To Make Sauce: In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon wine, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon cornstarch/water mixture, chili paste, vinegar and sugar. Mix together and add green onion, garlic, water chestnuts and peanuts. In a medium skillet, heat sauce slowly until aromatic. Meanwhile, remove chicken from marinade and saute in a large skillet until meat is white and juices run clear. When sauce is aromatic, add sauteed chicken to it and let simmer together until sauce thickens.

Shrimp Lemon Pepper Linguini Ingredients: 1 (8 ounce) package linguine pasta 1 tablespoon olive oil 6 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup white wine 1 lemon, juiced 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest salt to taste 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, 1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, 1/4 cup butter 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil Directions: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.

Add linguine, and cook for 9 to 13 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and saute garlic about 1 minute. Mix in chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is reduced by about 1/2.

Mix shrimp, butter, parsley, and basil into the Ingredients: 1 (8 ounce) package penne pasta 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 clove garlic, minced 3 cups chopped tomatoes 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 2 cups spinach leaves, packed salt and pepper to taste 1 pinch red pepper flakes 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled Directions: Bring a large pot of lightly

Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas

Ingredients: 2 teaspoons olive oil 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 (10 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained, 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1/4 cup salsa 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 2 tablespoons butter, divided 8 (8 inch) flour tortillas 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided Directions: Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir

in onion, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in beans and corn, then add sugar, salsa, and pepper flakes; mix well. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Melt 2 teaspoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the skillet, sprinkle evenly with cheese, then top with some of the bean mixture. Place another tortilla on top, cook until golden, then flip and cook on the other side. Melt more butter as needed, and repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Ingredients: 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard 3 tablespoons butter, melted 5 teaspoons honey 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 3 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley 6 (4 ounce) fillets salmon salt and pepper to taste 6 lemon wedges Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, mix together the mustard,

butter, and honey. In another bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.

Season each salmon fillet with salt and pepper.

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Brush with mustardhoney mixture. Cover the top of each fillet with bread crumb mixture.

Bake for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, measured at thickest part, or until salmon just flakes when tested with a fork.

Serve garnished with lemon wedges.

Salmon Bake with Pecan Crunch Coating

saucepan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until shrimp is opaque. Stir in the cooked linguine, and continue cooking 2 minutes, until well coated.

salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente; drain.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic, and cook until golden brown.

Mix in tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook 2 minutes more, until tomatoes are heated through and spinach is wilted.

Reduce heat to medium, stir in pasta and feta cheese, and cook until heated through.

Spinach and Feta Pasta

Issue 744 (40)

7 - 13 Nov., 2017

Gold worth 70 lakh seized at IGI in 48hrs

INCREASED vigil at airports has forced the smugglers of gold bring in more innovations in their job.

In a duration of 48 hours, gold worth ‘70 lakh has been seized by customs officials at the Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport from three persons — including a 46-yearold, who hid 400 grams of the yellow metal in his rectum. The seizure was made in three

separate cases of smuggling registered by the Customs department. In the first case, a passenger was intercepted on Friday after his arrival from London. During his baggage and body search, 118 gold medallions, weighing 1.09 kg, were recovered.

“The 46-year-old accused, who is a UK citizen of Indian origin, had concealed 694 grams of gold

medallions in his baggage and the remaining 400 grams in his rectum,” said a custom officer. The passenger has been arrested and the gold worth ‘29.7 lakh was seized. In another case, a 45year-old man was held by the department for allegedly trying to smuggle gold into the country.

The accused had concealed 752 grams of gold, valued at ‘21.99 lakh, in the pockets of his trouser.

The passenger has been arrested and the gold has been seized. In the latest case, a senior citizen was intercepted by the Customs after he arrived in the Capital from London on Sunday. The accused was trying to smuggle in about 600 gram gold, valued at about ‘18 lakh. The passenger, who is a citizen of the UK has an Indian origin, He has not been arrested though. Officials said it was being probed if the passengers were to hand over the gold to someone else. As per reports, the role of a smuggling syndicate has also not been ruled out.

Raped or Not: Dutch TV show sparks uproar A DUTCH TV channel is launching a controversial new show where young people discuss whether or not a woman has been raped. It is based on several real-life court cases of sexually transgressive behaviour.

As part of the show, called Raped or Not, young men and women then debate if they agree or not with the outcome of a subsequent trial. It has caused outrage in the Netherlands, with critics calling it bizarre and arguing that you cannot have an opinion on rape.

Producers have hit back, saying that it is important to discuss what is and isn’t assault, in particular on the back of the Me Too social media campaign and the Weinstein scandal. The first episode shows a former couple who end up in bed together after a party and end up having sex even though it is not clear if both consented. Another sees an

intern with an female boss, where she seduces him during afterwork drinks. Producer Bernard van den Bosch said most of the outrage is due to the in-your-face title of the show, but recent sex scandals, such as the accusations against Harvey

Weinstein, have shown there is more to the topic. “Those are personal dramas. One says rape, the other sees it as an innocent sexual encounter. Our show is about that grey area,” he said.

The show’s host Geraldine Kemper said that the cases are not the ones in which someone is dragged into bushes and raped.

Fake Patanjali site robs traders

She didn’t see that coming!

the difference between the real and the fake website,” said a senior police officer. “Be aware of the fake website www.patanjalidistributors.org, offering

A FRENCHWOMAN is suing a fortune teller who told her she would be dead within six months.

The 35- year-old claims she suffered severe psychological trauma after a doom-laden prediction by the telephone clairvoyant last July. She paid £25 (‘2,114) for the premium-rate call, in which the medium said her doctor had wrongly diagnosed stomach and chest pains she had been feeling. The woman, named only as Magalie, said: “I began to feel so traumatised, I saw a therapist, who advised me to take legal action against the clairvoyant, so I now I am seeking damages through the courts.” The president of France’s National Institute of Paranormal Arts told the L’Est Republican newspaper: “Mediums should never predict someone’s death.

CASHING in on the ever-growing popularity of Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali products, the cyber criminals have floated fake websites and are duping gullible investors by offering distributorship of the brand for ‘10 lakh. The cyber crime branch of Noida Police has received a complaint from a trader in Sector 63, who was duped by the website www.patanjalidistributors.org on the pretext of offering dealership of ayurvedic products anywhere in Noida. A senior police officer said proprietor of Katyayani Trades in Noida’s Sector 63 was contacted by the operator of the alleged fake website and offered distributorship for ‘10 lakh. When the owner, R K Verma, paid the money, the cyber criminals stopped responding to his calls and emails. Following this, a complaint was filed with the cyber cell. The fake site is identical to the real one and even has pictures of Baba Ramdev, Acharya Balkrishna and Patanjali products displayed on its home page. “It is difficult to make out

Patanjali distributorship asking money in lakhs. FIR registered in Noida. Please share to save others,” tweeted Vivek Ranjan Rai, head of the cyber wing. Patanjali officials also alerted about similar fraud sites that are duping people on the pretext of selling

KFC now lets you bathe in the scent of fried chicken LOVE the scent of fried chicken? lovers will get their finger lickin’ KFC has turned its signature hands on the latest piece of merchandise when their names are drawn in a lottery.

The brand has teamed up with Japanese novelty retailers Village Vanguard to launch the latest campaign that runs until November 15. The 100 lucky winners will get to enjoy the aroma of the famous chicken after they kick back, and relax with the bath bomb. Fans will receive d i s h i n t o a f r i e d c h i c k e n - the bath bomb, a red and white scented bath bomb. The fast KFCbranded box. This isn’t the food chain in Japan released first time KFC released fried the drumstickshaped soap that chicken scented products. will cause an explosion of the Fried chicken lovers previously 11 secrets herbs and spices - w e n t wild over fried a n d y o u w i l l b e s m e l l i n g chickenscented sunscreen, delicious. And fried chicken flavoured lip balm and candle.

products, offering jobs and distributorships.

“We are concerned with the recent proliferation of fraudulent and infringing activities of people who are trying to make illegal profit by offering goods, posing as they are part of the Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and its group companies/trust and thereby causing immense damage to the reputation and goodwill of our brands,” mentions Patanjali on its website. Meanwhile, police in its investigation has found that the fake website was created on September 22 and its server has been located in Sector 3, Noida. Interestingly, the website was being operated from the bordering areas of Orissa and Chhattisgarh. Noida police said the operator of the website has several bank accounts in different states of the country.

“There is a high possibility that the gang is in touch with other people and trying to dupe them. We are close to identifying them and the culprits will be arrested soon,” said a police officer.

Iconic London cabs lose trademark bid NEW-STYLE taxis could roll onto London roads after two Court of Appeal judges ruled the shape of a traditional city black cab was not distinctive.

The London Taxi Company wanted to claim an exclusive right to the black cab shape and thwart a rival firm. But Justice Kitchin and Justice Floyd have upheld a ruling made last year by a High Court judge. In January 2016, Justice Arnold ruled that the shape was not a ‘valid registered trademark’ after a High Court hearing in London. Appeal judges dismissed a challenge on Wednesday. Rival Ecotive said it is now in a position to put its electric Metrocab into production. Confectionery giant Nestle earlier this year lost a similar trademark fight over the shape of a KitKat chocolate bar. Specialist lawyers said Wednesday’s ruling showed how hard it was for manufacturers to trademark shapes. ‘The London Taxi Company has been trying to prevent a rival manufacturer from producing a new style of

London taxi which it claims infringes its intellectual property rights in the original shape,’ said lawyer

Mike Gardner, from law firm Wedlake Bell. ‘The Court of Appeal has dashed the notion that there is any trademark protection for the classic design,’ he added.