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THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 730, 1 - 7 AUGUST, 2017 PH: (905) 671 - 4761

Double Jeopardy: 36 years on, hijack case lands back in Indian court

1981 hijackers Satnam Singh (extreme left, in dark blue turban), Gajinder Singh (third from left, in maroon turban), Tajinderpal Singh (fifth from left, in white shirt) and Jasbir Singh Cheema (extreme right) at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore in this picture that the Dal Khalsa says was taken around 1986.

The hijackers were arrested on September 30, 1981 after Pakistani commandos entered the plane. There were no deaths or injuries. The men spent three years in a military prison and were put on trial for the hijack in 1984. They were sentenced to life imprisonment on January 20, 1986.

On September 29, 1981, five radical Sikhs hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft to Lahore, and were jailed in Pakistan until 1994. Two of them returned to India, and all five were subsequently charged with sedition. A Delhi court will hear the investigating officer this week, setting the stage for a likely trial. Navjeeval Gopal recounts a fascinating story of twists, turns and long legal delays.

What happened in September 1981, and why are those events back in the news after 36 long years?

On September 29, 1981, five activists of the radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa hijacked a New Delhi-Srinagar Indian Airlines flight to Lahore. The hijackers

Satnam Singh, Tajinderpal Singh, Jasbir Singh Cheema, Gajinder Singh and Karan Singh demanded the release of Sikh preacher Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale

who had been arrested on September 19 that year for involvement in the September 9 murder of Lala Jagat Narain, editor of the Hind Samachar group of newspapers.

The men also wanted the release of Sikh prisoners and compensation for the deaths of Sikh protesters killed in police firing at Amritsar’s Mehta Chowk after the arrest of Bhindranwale.

The hijackers were arrested on September 30, 1981 after Pakistani commandos entered the plane. There were no deaths or injuries. The men spent three years in a military prison and were put on trial for the hijack in 1984. They were sentenced to life imprisonment on January 20, 1986.

In 1994, after they had spent 13 years and one month in prison, the men were released. Two of the hijackers who subsequently came back to India Tajinderpal Singh Continued on Page 4

Jagmeet Singh tops NDP leadership fundraising in 2nd quarter of 2017 Singh is fundraising faster than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did during the 2013 Liberal race By Éric Grenier, CBC News Ontario member of the legislature Jagmeet Singh led the field of NDP leadership candidates in the second quarter of 2017, according to the latest quarterly fundraising report published by Elections Canada.

Singh raised $356,784 from 1,681 individual contributions, Guy Caron speaks as Charlie Angus and Niki Ashton look on in the first debate of the federal NDP leadership despite entering the race in midMay, halfway through the race, in Ottawa on March 12, 2017.

reporting period that stretched from April 1 to June 30, 2017.

That represents 60 per cent of all money raised by the four candidates for the NDP leadership in the quarter.

Singh was followed by Ontario MP Charlie Angus, who raised $123,577 from 1,285 individual contributions. Manitoba MP Niki Ashton raised $70,156 from 1,006 contributors Continued on Page 4

Issue - 730 (2)

1 - 7 August, 2017

INSIDE PAK’S TERROR FACTORY Over 30 jihadi outfits unite against India amid growing Chinese inf luence in PoK WHILE infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is getting a facelift owing to a torrent of Chinese investment, the terrorism framework in the area too is getting revamped in a bid to foment trouble in India, an India TV Today investigation on ground zero has found.

Over 30 religious and jihadi groups have come together to form Daifa-e-Pakistan that has demonstrated and carried out rallies across Pakistan to step up terrorism in Kashmir.

According to sources, the aim of the movement is to create a new force of terrorism and channel it against India. One such rally was organised by Daifa-e-Pakistan at Mall road in Lahore. The participants included the leaders of the banned terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hijbul Mujahideen, JamiatulMujahideen, etc. They demonstrated against India and spelt out a negative propaganda allegedly after informing the government of Pakistan and its army.

According to sources, Pakistan is leaving no stone unturned to stoke the unrest in Kashmir caused after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani last year. Though the US has declared Hafiz Saeed and Hijbul chief Syed Salahuddin global terrorists with rewards for their arrest, these two have been spreading venom against India in different cities of Pakistan. Indian agencies are concerned that the Pakistan-funded terror groups are roping in youngsters for their mission. Much like Hafiz Saeed’s son, former ISI chief Hamid Gul’s son is also echoing anti-India propaganda by creating associations to mobilise the youth. The number of infiltrators into the India this year has been the highest in the past decade, underscoring Pakistan’s agenda. This has led to

tension along the Line of Control and ceasefire violations. In the last nine years, after a devastating earthquake in 2006 in PoK, the infrastructure has undergone radical change.

Not only roads, but hydropower projects and other ventures are visible on the ground .The pace at which these developmental projects are coming up is worrying for India. China’s “development” projects” in PoK and neighbouring Gilgit-Baltistan that involve several thousand Chinese personnel belonging to the construction corps of the

People’s Liberation Army (PLA) point towards Beijing’s expansionist geostrategic agenda in the region. Gilgit-Baltistan is part of the disputed territory of J&K occupied by Pakistan and is known as the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Some part of the Aksai Chin region was also gifted to China by Pakistan.

Many people living in Gilgit and Baltistan are unnerved by the increasing Chinese presence in the area and feel that their resources and land are being sold to China by Pakistan without compensating the actual

stakeholders, India TV Today found. Some even believe that all environmental issues are being ignored to favour economic interests of Pakistan. Farman Ali, a well-known journalist from Gilgit, said, “People who raise their voices against Pakistan are either being jailed or harassed by Pakistani security agencies in Gilgit and Baltistan.”

There are some in PoK who believe that the China– Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is going to help economic prosperity in the area but that will be

clear only when the projects are completed and locals are engaged by Pakistan in economic activities.

So far, residents have not been employed in construction work, except some security personnel who have been engaged for protection of Chinese workers. With the reported stationing of a unit of PLA soldiers near the Khunjerab Pass and Chinese military officials frequenting the field command office of Gilgit,

which happens to be Pakistan’s military headquarters in the region, a pervasive Chinese intent of establishing a military edge in India’s northern sector cannot be negated, observers say.

Issue - 730 (3)

1 - 7 August, 2017

Spoiling for war, are we?

China, Russia, Nato forces flex military muscles with huge shows of strength

THE world’s superpowers have flexed their muscles in massive parades to showcase their military strength. China put on an ostentatious show of military force in a parade to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army, overseen

by President Xi Jinping. Troops, nuclear missile launchers and new stealth aircraft all featured in the parade at the remote Zhurihe training base in China’s remote Inner Mongolia region. Zhurihe Training Base is Asia’s largest military training centre and features life-size mockup targets, including Taiwan’s presidential palace. Xi, wearing military clothing, told troops that the ‘world isn’t safe at this moment’ adding that ‘a strong army is needed now more than ever’. Among the terrifying display of weapons was China’s Chengdu J-20 stealth jet fighter as well as its new DF-31AG intercontinental ballistic missile. The rocket is mounted on an all-terrain vehicle to make it harder to track. Clad in military fatigues President Xi inspected the 12,000 troops, repeatedly shouting ‘Hello comrades!’ and ‘Comrades, you are working hard!’ into microphones fixed on top of a jeep.

Troops shouted back ‘Serve the people!’, ‘Follow the Party!’, ‘Fight to win!’ and ‘Forge exemplary conduct!’ In a live address Xi, who commands the People’s Liberation Army, called on the Chinese military to transform itself into an elite fighting force to bolster the country’s rise into a world power. PLA has undergone an extensive modernisation programme with a strategic aim of competing with the US for regional dominance.

Elsewhere on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a pomp-filled display of Russia’s naval might as the Kremlin paraded its sea power from the Baltic Sea to the shores of Syria. Some 50 warships and submarines were on show along the Neva River and in the Gulf of Finland off the country’s second city of Saint Petersburg after Putin ordered the navy to hold its first ever parade on such a grand scale.

Putin told servicemen, “Today much is being done to develop and modernise the navy. The navy is not only dealing with its traditional tasks but also responding with merit to new challenges, making a significant contribution to the fight against terrorism and piracy.” The showcase event to mark Russia’s annual Navy Day is the latest to be beefed up

by Putin, with the Kremlin strongman also bolstering the traditional WWII victory parade in Moscow as he looks to flex the country’s military muscles. In response to Russia’s display, Georgia and the United States launched their biggest ever joint military exercises on Monday in the latest show of support for the tiny Caucasus nation that has squared off against Russia. The start of the drills comes a day ahead of a two-day visit to Tbilisi by US vice-president Mike Pence during which he is expected to reiterate Washington’s backing for Georgia’s wish to join NATO. Some 800 Georgian and 1,600 US troops are taking part in the Noble Partner 2017 drills — the largest ever in the Caucasus nation since it fought a brief war with Russia in 2008.

Issue - 730 (3)

1 - 7 August, 2017

Spoiling for war, are we?

China, Russia, Nato forces flex military muscles with huge shows of strength

THE world’s superpowers have flexed their muscles in massive parades to showcase their military strength. China put on an ostentatious show of military force in a parade to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army, overseen

by President Xi Jinping. Troops, nuclear missile launchers and new stealth aircraft all featured in the parade at the remote Zhurihe training base in China’s remote Inner Mongolia region. Zhurihe Training Base is Asia’s largest military training centre and features life-size mockup targets, including Taiwan’s presidential palace. Xi, wearing military clothing, told troops that the ‘world isn’t safe at this moment’ adding that ‘a strong army is needed now more than ever’. Among the terrifying display of weapons was China’s Chengdu J-20 stealth jet fighter as well as its new DF-31AG intercontinental ballistic missile. The rocket is mounted on an all-terrain vehicle to make it harder to track. Clad in military fatigues President Xi inspected the 12,000 troops, repeatedly shouting ‘Hello comrades!’ and ‘Comrades, you are working hard!’ into microphones fixed on top of a jeep.

Troops shouted back ‘Serve the people!’, ‘Follow the Party!’, ‘Fight to win!’ and ‘Forge exemplary conduct!’ In a live address Xi, who commands the People’s Liberation Army, called on the Chinese military to transform itself into an elite fighting force to bolster the country’s rise into a world power. PLA has undergone an extensive modernisation programme with a strategic aim of competing with the US for regional dominance.

Elsewhere on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a pomp-filled display of Russia’s naval might as the Kremlin paraded its sea power from the Baltic Sea to the shores of Syria. Some 50 warships and submarines were on show along the Neva River and in the Gulf of Finland off the country’s second city of Saint Petersburg after Putin ordered the navy to hold its first ever parade on such a grand scale.

Putin told servicemen, “Today much is being done to develop and modernise the navy. The navy is not only dealing with its traditional tasks but also responding with merit to new challenges, making a significant contribution to the fight against terrorism and piracy.” The showcase event to mark Russia’s annual Navy Day is the latest to be beefed up

by Putin, with the Kremlin strongman also bolstering the traditional WWII victory parade in Moscow as he looks to flex the country’s military muscles. In response to Russia’s display, Georgia and the United States launched their biggest ever joint military exercises on Monday in the latest show of support for the tiny Caucasus nation that has squared off against Russia. The start of the drills comes a day ahead of a two-day visit to Tbilisi by US vice-president Mike Pence during which he is expected to reiterate Washington’s backing for Georgia’s wish to join NATO. Some 800 Georgian and 1,600 US troops are taking part in the Noble Partner 2017 drills — the largest ever in the Caucasus nation since it fought a brief war with Russia in 2008.

Issue - 730 (4)

1 - 7 August, 2017

Double Jeopardy: 36 years on, hijack case lands back in Indian court continued from page 1 and Satnam Singh — now face the prospect of being tried for sedition by a court in Delhi.

How did the situation of a new trial arise?

In September 2011, Delhi Police filed a supplementary chargesheet before a Delhi court, charging the men with sedition, waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India and criminal conspiracy. The prosecution alleged the hijackers had raised slogans of “Khalistan Zindabad”, “Indira Gandhi Murdabad”, Sant Baba Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Zindabad, Bharat Sarkar Murdabad”, “Raj Karega Khalsa”, and other anti-India slogans during the hijacking. The Dal Khalsa, to which the men belonged, wanted an independent state for Sikhs, the prosecution said.

The court took cognizance of the charges in August 2012, and issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against all five

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hijackers. Tajinder and Satnam approached Delhi High Court in December that year, seeking the quashing of the supplementary chargesheet and cancellation of NBWs. On May 18 this year, the High Court converted the NBWs into summons and ordered Tajinder and Satnam to appear before the trial court and seek bail. This they did on July 18 and got two days’ interim bail. On July 20, the court granted them regular bail and fixed July 31 — Monday — as the date of hearing, asking the investigating officer to present his report.

What happened between their release from prison in Pakistan and the Delhi Police action in 2011?

Gajinder Singh flew to Germany in 1996 but was refused entry and deported back to Pakistan. Karan Singh and Jasbir Singh Cheema travelled to Switzerland in 1995, and got asylum there.

Tajinderpal, who is 64 now, sought asylum in Canada, but was deported back to Pakistan. He then went to Nepal, and crossed into India in December 1997.

Satnam, who is now 66, knocked on the doors of the US in 1995, and was detained on arrival. After three years, his request for asylum was rejected, and he was deported to Pakistan. He arrived in India in 1999 through Nepal.

On August 9, 1999, Satnam surrendered before a court with an appeal that he be discharged in the hijacking case that was registered at Delhi’s Palam Airport police station. His counsel invoked the principle of double jeopardy, arguing that “having served a sentence decided by a court of competent jurisdiction, the net effect of the sentence is that the offence is wiped out”. On February 11, 2000, the court ordered his “discharge”.

On July 17, 2000, Tajinder too approached the court, seeking similar relief. But this time, the court said it was not under compulsion to follow its previous order and asked the prosecution if both Satnam and Tajinder should be investigated and tried. After seven years of dates and adjournments, on January 16, 2007, the prosecution submitted that it would investigate the case and submit

a report. It took another four and a half years, until September 2011, to file a supplementary chargesheet, accusing the men of sedition.

What have Satnam and Tajinder said on the fresh charges?

Both have invoked double jeopardy, saying they have already been tried and punished for the hijacking, and that putting them on trial again violates the Vienna Convention, to which India is a signatory. The defence counsel argued in court that the men have already spent 35 years in litigation and served a life sentence in Pakistan. “The instant is a classic example of double jeopardy … their entire life will go facing trial after trial for [the same offence]. They were first tried for hijacking in Pakistan and sentenced; thereafter they were again tried for same incident by an Indian Court and discharged; now you can’t change the denomination and try for the same incident under a different name … it is per se illegal,” the counsel argued.

And what did the court say?

In Satnam’s case, the trial court had accepted the plea of double jeopardy; the successor judge of the same court who heard Tajinderpal’s plea, however, took a different view. Taking cognizance of the supplementary chargesheet in August 2012, in which the investigating agency had slapped charges of sedition, the trial court ruled that the five hijackers would have to face trial for offences other than those of which they had been convicted and sentenced in Pakistan. A fresh case of sedition was made out on the basis of the slogans the hijackers had raised, the magistrate said. According to Kanwarpal Singh, spokesman of the Dal Khalsa, Indian investigators reached their conclusion on the basis of the Pakistan court’s judgment, which listed the slogans the hijackers had raised. The investigators have told the court that they have not been able to trace any of the passengers or crew of the hijacked aircraft.

How is the case playing out in Punjab?

Tajinder now runs a shop selling Sikh religious literature in Jalandhar, while Satnam lives in Chandigarh. His wife is a teacher who has recently retired.

The Amarinder Singh government offered legal help to the hijackers, but the Dal Khalsa rejected the offer; it wants the state government to tell the Centre to call off the trial. Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal, which was once headed by Bhindranwale, too, has reacted sharply against the fresh trial.

Dal Khalsa has also alleged “double standards” — Bhola Pandey and Devendra Pandey, who hijacked an aircraft to protest the arrest of Indira Gandhi on December 20, 1978, had gone on to become MLAs after Indira returned to power, it has pointed out. “If the case against them could be withdrawn, why should Satnam and Tajinder face retrial after 36 years after undergoing a 14-year jail term?”

Kanwarpal Singh asked. He also pointed to the pro-Khalistan slogans that are frequently raised by an assortment of groups at the Golden Temple, and said that Kashmiri militant Hashim Qureishi, who had hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft to Lahore in 1971, had been “mainstreamed” by the Indian intelligence agencies after he had served a sentence in Pakistan. Qureishi now lives in Srinagar, Kanwarpal said.

Capt directs state legal team to help Sikh hijackers facing ‘double’ trial Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has directed the state’s Legal Aid Team to extend help to the two Sikhs faced with possibilities of ‘double jeopardy’ in the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Lahore 36 years ago.

“While the hijacking was condemnable, any attempt to prosecute the two, who had already done life terms in Pakistan for the same crime, will amount to a serious travesty of justice,” the chief minister in a statement on Thursday, adding that this could tantamount to double jeopardy. He added that he has directed the Legal Aid team of the Home Department to extend legal help to the two, in case required.

While he said he did not want to go into the merits of the case since it was sub-judice, the CM pointed out 36 years is a long time, considering that life term will not have been more than 14 years.

Jagmeet Singh tops NDP leadership fundraising in 2nd quarter of 2017 continued from page 1 though she announced that her campaign had already raised $100,000 in July — while Quebec MP Guy Caron raised just $46,970 from 568 contributions.

Angus was the fundraising leader in the first quarter of 2017 before Singh entered the race, bringing in $110,765. Ashton and Caron raised $65,521 and $57,235 respectively at that time, including the $25,000 they each donated to their own campaigns.

Peter Julian, who withdrew from the NDP leadership race in July, raised just $28,673 in the second quarter, after raising $19,143 in the first quarter. Julian pointed to his poor fundraising as one of the reasons for his withdrawal from the contest.

Pat Stogran, who entered the race in April before withdrawing in early June, raised $14,966.

In an email blast to supporters, Singh’s campaign boasted that he raised more than $350,000 in just 47 days — 30 days less than it took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to raise the same amount during the 2013 Liberal leadership race and 77 days less than it took Andrew Scheer during the recent Conservative contest.

“In just 47 days we built a truly nationwide operation that shows how a Jagmeet-led

NDP will take on the Liberals and Conservatives,” the email said.

Voting in the NDP contest begins in September, with results to be announced in October.

In just 47 days we built a truly nationwide operation that shows how a Jagmeet-led NDP will take on the Liberals and Conservatives.

In all, the leadership contestants raised $643,285.

That’s on top of the $826,664 raised by the NDP, which continues to trail well behind the two main federal parties in fundraising.

Conservative party still raises the most The Conservatives raised $4,073,665 from 32,427 contributions in the second quarter of 2017. While that was down from the party’s haul in the first quarter of the year, it doesn’t include the $1.9 million that was also raised by the leadership contestants.

Combined, the Conservative take in the second quarter totaled $6 million.

With or without the leadership dollars, that puts the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals for the second consecutive quarter. The Liberals raised $3,023,955 from 30,149 contributions. That is an increase from the first quarter of 2017, but still below the party’s average quarterly fundraising in 2016. Liberals explained their dismal first

quarter results by pointing to the fact that the party froze fundraising events featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers until new rules could be put into effect requiring such events to be more open and transparent.

While Liberal fundraising improved in the second quarter, party spokesman Braeden Caley said both the Conservatives and NDP saw their money hauls decline from the first quarter, even though they “continued to organize their fundraising events in secret.”

As mentioned above, the New Democratic Party raised $825,985 in the second quarter from 12,448 contributions, in addition to the $642,000 raised by leadership contestants.

The funds raised solely by the party were the worst since the second quarter of 2010, but with the leadership fundraising added in, the quarter was the second best for the party since the 2015 federal election.

The Bloc Québécois took in $91,197 in donations from 1,125 contributions in the quarter — its lowest numbers since the first quarter of 2015.

The Green Party raised $486,998 from 7,047 individual contributions, up slightly from its first quarter haul. But the party is still on track for its worst fundraising year since 2013.

Issue - 730 (6)

1 - 7 August, 2017

Babylonians did burn down City of David Charred wood, pottery & bones found in Jerusalem confirm the event which, as per the Bible, happened 2,600 years ago

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have found evidence that the Babylonians were responsible for the burning of Jerusalem more than 2,600 years ago. The researchers discovered charred wood, grape seeds, fish scales, bones and pottery along with numerous other artefacts while excavating the City of David. The findings confirm the scene as described in the Bible, which states that the Babylonians “burnt all the houses of Jerusalem”.

Archaeologists from Israel Antiquities Authority discovered the charred artefacts while excavating the City of David in Israel’s Jerusalem Walls National Park. The burning of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was first described in The Book of Jeremiah, which states: “He burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every

great man’s house, burnt with fire.” Besides the charred wood, pottery and food items, the researchers also found dozens of jars used to store grains and liquids, many of which have stamped handles and rosette seals. Ortal Chalaf and Dr Joe

Uziel, directors of the excavation, said: “These seals are characteristic of the end of the First Temple Period and were used for the administrative system that developed towards the end of the Judean dynasty.

Classifying objects facilitated controlling, overseeing, collecting, marketing and storing crop yields. “The rosette, in essence, replaced the ‘For the King’ seal used in the earlier administrative system.” The archaeologists found the artefacts beneath layers of collapsed rock on the eastern side of the City of David. One of the rarest findings was a small ivory statue of a naked woman with a haircut or wig in an Egyptian style. The experts believe that this shows the skill of the artists living there. Chalaf and Uziel said: “The excavation’s findings show that

Jerusalem had extended beyond the line of the city wall before its destruction. The row of structures exposed in the excavations is located outside, beyond the city wall that would have constituted the eastern border of the city during this period.” “Throughout the Iron Age, Jerusalem underwent constant growth, expressed both in the construction of numerous city walls and the fact that the city later spread beyond them. Excavations carried out in the past in the area of the Jewish Quarter have shown how the growth of the population at the end of the 8th Century BCE led the annexation of the western area of Jerusalem. In the current excavation, we may suggest that following the westward expansion of the city, structures were built outsideof the wall’s border on the east as

well.” During the reign of King Jehoiakim in 597 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged the city of Jerusalem, following a long struggle between Judah and Babylon.

The nation of Judah continued to exist under Babylonian rule with King Zedekiah installed in Jerusalem as a puppet king.

After King Zedekiah rebelled too, the city fell in 586 BC. According to Bible, Babylonians burnt all the houses of Jerusalem, stating: “every great house he burnt down”. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Gedaliah was placed in charge as a governor in Judah, but he was killed two months after his appointment, causing many of the remaining Jews to flee to Egypt in fear of their lives. This group of refugees included prophet Jeremiah, who was forced against his will to go to Egypt.

Mom kills her kids to Enough to put you off ‘McFlurrys’ forever! spite ex-husband INVESTIGATORS in South Carolina have revealed that a mother used a gun she stole from her parents to shoot dead her two children, a woman she believed to be her estranged husband’s new girlfriend and then herself as part of an elaborate revenge plot.

Pickens County chief deputy Creed Hashe said Jessica Edens, 36, called her estranged husband twice on July 13 — once around the time she killed her son and daughter, and again before committing suicide. Hashe said the same .40-caliber handgun used to kill 28-year-old Meredith Rahme in a parking garage below downtown Greenville apartments was used to kill nine-year-old Hayden King and Harper Edens, 5. Hashe said in a news release Monday that text messages show Jessica Edens making plans to “create everlasting consequences” for her estranged husband Benjamin Edens, after a family court hearing over the custody of their daughter, which left her feeling “distraught”. The investigation has confirmed that

Jessica Edens drove her black SUV directly from the parking garage in Greenville just moments after Rahme was mur dered near the GreenvillePickens Speedway, where it was later discovered by a passing motorist. Based on a phone call made by Edens to her husband while he was in the presence of Greenville authorities, along with other evidence, it is believed siblings Hayden and Harper were shot by their mother while seated in the rear cargo area of the SUV. There was no sign of a struggle.

Detectives believe the mother killed her children before she

made what would be her final phone call to her husband, and then she turned the gun on herself as she sat in the backseat of the Jeep with their bodies. As previously reported, first responders found the Jeep locked and with the engine still running at around 5pm on July 13. Deputies used a baton to break the driver’s side window in order to get inside. There, they found Edens, her son and daughter all dead. Autopsies performed on the deceased the following day determined that each person had a single gunshot wound to the head.

A MAN who claimed to work in McDonald’s has shared stomach-churning photos of what he claims came out of one of the fast food chain’s ice cream machines. The man, who goes by the name of “Nick” on Twitter and lives in Louisiana, shared the gross photos on his page and they have quickly gone viral. The images show a metal tray that he claims came out of one of the chain’s ice cream machines, and it appears to be full of green gunk. Posting the snap to Twitter on July 14, he wrote: “This came out of McDonald’s ice cream machine in case y’all were wondering.” His tweet has since had 14,000 retweets and thousands of comments. He then added another tweet, writing: “People keep quoting this and saying this is the reason it’s always down when it works perfectly fine with this in it.”

People were quick to comment saying it must be the remnants of a grease trap, to which he responded: “This is the side of the ice cream machine! It’s not from a grease trap.” He then

shared photos of the grease trap itself, before sharing more photos of dirty machinery and floors. He told his followers: “I got fired from McDonald’s. I strategically planned this because I start working at my new job Friday. I planned on losing my job.” His tweets have amassed thousands of responses and retweets from social media users. MailOnline has contacted McDonald’s and is awaiting a response.

Issue - 730 (7)

1 - 7 August, 2017

Cops suspended for repeatedly tasering 18-yr-old American

THREE Tennessee deputies have been suspended for repeatedly tasering an 18-year-old suspect while he was restrained, according to the teen’s lawsuit. Jordan Elias Norris, now 19, claims he suffered more than 40 pairs of taser burns after he was arrested and held at Cheatham County Jail for drugs and weapons offences last November.

He has since filed a lawsuit in the US District Court accusing the deputies of using excessive force, failure to protect and deprivation of civil rights. Shocking footage appears to show one of the officers repeatedly using a taser on Norris while he was bound to a chair. “I’ll keep on doing that until I run out of batteries,” the officer is heard telling Norris in the jail surveillance footage.

The surveillance also shows the deputy telling him to “stop resisting”, while stunning Norris, who automatically tenses in pain. The deputy went

Microsoft Paint to be replaced after 32 years for 3D drawing New York Microsoft has announced the end of days for its pioneering Paint application as it focuses on software for 3-D drawing.

Paint drawing and image processing software that made its debut in 1985 with the Windows operating system was among the applications listed as “removed or deprecated” in a Windows 10 Fall Creators Update set for release later this year. Features or functions on the list “are not in active development and might be removed in future releases,” according to the US technology company.

For decades, Paint was among applications installed by default on Windows-powered personal computers and drew a strong following.

Fans of the application will be able to take solace in a Paint 3-D version launched early this yea.

onto to stun Norris “four times totalling approximately fifty seconds on his stomach and legs”, according to the suit, obtained by the Tennessean. The suit adds the deputy involved acted in a “sadistic and malicious nature in repeatedly tasing Plaintiff Norris, such that the force was unreasonable”.

Three Cheatham County Sheriff’s deputies — the one using the taser and two who stood by and failed to act — have now been placed on administrative leave. None have been named.

Cheatham County Sheriff Mike Breedlove says he is examining the office’s Use of Force policy and has contacted the District Attorney General Ray Crouch Jr. to request an independent investigation.

“As Sheriff, I want our citizens to know that any inappropriate behaviour that may have violated an individual’s rights will not be tolerated,” he said. “I

have placed the employees involved on administrative leave while the investigation is conducted. We will work closely and cooperatively with the TBI and District Attorney’s Office to ensure all facts are provided and all angles of this incident are thoroughly investigated.”

Norris was arrested November 3, 2016, for felony manufacturing/ possession of marijuana for resale, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft under $500 (`32,105) and five counts of possession of a prohibited weapon, vandalism of over $1,000 (`64,210) and simple assault. He was in jail for almost two weeks before he was bonded out on November 16. When he was released, he had around 40 pairs of taser burns throughout his body, according to the suit. “Most of the taser burns sustained by Plaintiff Norris are not accounted for by the Use

of Force Reports and video clips received from the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office, raising further questions and creating a reasonable belief that Plaintiff Norris was also repeatedly tased on other occasions without proper justification,” said the suit. Use of Force reports filed by deputies, report that Norris was stunned while in booking after they thought he might start a fight with another inmate.

They claim he resisted efforts to cuff him, so he was stunned and taken to a restraint chair. The report reveals they stunned him again for resisting as he was put in the chair. Deputies say he was in the chair for three hours, during which time he was shouting he wanted to die, the Use of Force report reveals. A report reveals that officers stunned him multiple times at 10.20 pm, on November 5, for “compliance” to transport him to a vehicle to take him to jail. He was stunned 15 minutes later, for ‘one second on the calf’ in another attempt to transfer him to the vehicle, another report reveals. The lawsuit, which is seeking unspecified damages, claims that these reports do not reflect the “unreasonable, unnecessary, excessive” use of force used against a young suspect who was suffering a mental health episode.

You Used Worse Abuses Than a Mere ‘Crook’ For Arun Jaitley: Ram Jethmalani to Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi In a letter written to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani accused Kejriwal of using worse words than ‘crook’ for Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during conversations with him. In the letter posted online on his blog, Jethmalani wrote, ”When Arun Jaitley filed the first suit and criminal case, you naturally sought my services. Ask your conscience how many times you used worse abuses than a mere ‘crook’. You have hundred times asked me to teach this crook a lesson.”

The development comes at a time when the Chief Minister briefed the Delhi High Court that he had not asked Jethmalani to use objectionable words against Jaitley.

Noteworthy, Jethmalani was under attack from Arun Jaitley who filed a defamation case against Kejriwal earlier this year for using the word in the courtroom. However, the charges were denied in an affidavit submitted in Delhi

High Court by Arvind Kejriwal. The affidavit read, “Neither the defendant (Kejriwal) nor the counsel (Anupam Srivastava) briefing the senior counsel (Jethmalani) gave instructions to the senior counsel to use the objectionable words on May 17, 2017.” However, after the filing of another civil defamation case against Kejriwal by Arun Jaitley, Jethmalani had quit as Kejriwal’s counsel. The senior lawyer had also asked the Delhi chief minister to settle his fees amounting to more than Rs two crore.

On May 17, the recording of Jaitley’s statement in a Rs 10 crore civil defamation suit, filed by him against Kejriwal and other AAP functionaries, witnessed high drama as the Union minister objected to the use of a word against him by the veteran lawyer representing the chief minister. When the Finance Minister asked Jethmalani whether the word was used as per instructions from Kejriwal, he replied in affirmative.

Issue - 730 (8)

1 - 7 August, 2017

Gifts to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II go on display

LONDON Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is putting gifts received from world leaders on display at Buckingham Palace, with the eclectic collection including presents from the likes of Nelson Mandela and John F. Kennedy.

A remarkable array of over 200 gifts will go on display from Saturday, providing an intriguing reminder of the globetrotting lifestyle and international encounters of the 91-year-old sovereign. “One of the most universal aspects of the Queen’s meetings with other heads of state, both at home and abroad, is the exchange of gifts,” said Sally Goodsir, assistant curator of the new “Royal Gifts” exhibition. Since her accession to the throne in 1952, Elizabeth has travelled more than 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometres) around the world and taken part in 89 state visits abroad. At the same time, she has welcomed more than 100 leaders to Britain for formal state visits. “The exchange is a gesture of goodwill and these gifts are representative of traditional skills or of cultural

significance and speak of a nation of culture’s history and traditions,” explains Goodsir.

Although hugely diverse, these symbols of friendship have often involved an exchange of signed photographs.

These include one from US President John F. Kennedy in 1961, who along with his wife Jackie was invited to dine at Buckingham Palace while on an unofficial visit to London.The gifts on display also include a handwritten note of Kennedy’s “high esteem” for his royal host.

Thirty-five years later, the queen met with another great figure of the 20th century when she welcomed Nelson Mandela for a state visit. The then South African president offered the monarch a silk scarf depicting bushmen hunting a herd of eland in his country’s Eastern Cape region.Next to the scarf stands a surprising portrait of Elizabeth, created by weaving dyed banana leaves together, which was given

by Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame in 2006.

- Kangaroos and horses Below the majestic chandeliers

of Buckingham Palace’s ballroom gifts from Asia are on display, including a lacquer box with the image of a heron worked in silver on the lid.It was a present from Japan’s Emperor Showa to Elizabeth for her coronation in 1953.

“Emperor Showa’s subsequent state visit to the UK in the 1970s was the first time a Japanese emperor had left Japan to pay a visit to any country outside,” says Goodsir.

The queen has also received a number of living animals - a crocodile from the Gambia in 1961, an elephant from Cameroon in 1972, and six Australian kangaroos in 1977 all of which have found homes in London zoo.

Around 20 horses have also been given, as well as a porcelain one from French President Francois Hollande which was presented during Elizabeth’s state visit to France in 2014.

The gift which made the longest journey before ending up in Buckingham Palace was presented by Tim Peake, the first British astronaut to carry out a space walk from the International Space Station. Peake wore a British flag badge during the space walk in 2016 and gave it to the monarch earlier this year.

Also on display, in a tribute to Princess Diana to mark the 20th anniversary since her death, are a number of her personal items including a briefcase and ballet shoes. Diana, the first wife of Britain’s heir to the throne Prince Charles, died in a Paris car crash on August, 31, 1997.

Firefighters kill snake ‘stuck to woman’s face’

OHIO Firefighters in the US state of Ohio have rescued a woman who telephoned 911 in terror, pleading, “Oh, please! I have a boa constrictor stuck to my face!”“Ma’am, you have a what?” the operator replied. “You’re outside with a boa constrictor stuck to your face?”The terrified woman explained that the 5ft 5in (1.6m) snake had wrapped itself around her and bitten her nose.

She said she had “rescued” the snake and another boa on Wednesday.

An ambulance was swiftly dispatched to the woman, who was found lying in her driveway in the town of Sheffield Lake with the snake around her neck.“It was wrapped around her neck and biting her nose and wouldn’t let go,” fire chief Tim Card said,

according to the local ChronicleTelegram.

“They had to cut its head off with a knife to get it to let go of her face.”The 45-year-old explained her plight to the 911 operator, pleading, “There’s blood everywhere!” “I’ve never heard of this before,” the dispatcher exclaimed, before urging the woman not to move.

Boa constrictors kill their prey by gripping it so tightly that blood and oxygen can’t reach the victim’s vital organs. The woman, who said she had 11 snakes, was taken to hospital for treatment after the incident on Thursday. Her injuries were not said to be life-threatening. Mr Card said the emergency services had disposed of the dead snake in a bin near Sheffield Lake City Hall.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Selected as Interim Prime Minister of Pakistan

Deformed ‘alien’ skull found in Crimea

LONDON An ‘alien boy’ with a weirdly elongated skull found in a tomb in Crimea was in fact a a boy marked out to be an ancient warrior, say Russian archaeologists.The artificially lengthened head was a feature of children being groomed as Sarmatian fighters almost 2,000 years ago, they say.

Archaeologists made the startling find at a burial site close to a giant £2.9billion ($3.8billion) bridge currently under construction. It was immediately called an ‘alien’s grave’, said the scientists. The find was made

at Kyz-Aul, close to Kerch, where Vladimir Putin has commissioned construction of the bridge.It will connect the peninsula, annexed from Ukraine in a 2014 military operation, to mainland Russia.One Russian state media outlet reported that ‘some adherents of “ancient astronauts” theories claim that the owners of such lengthened skulls may be humanextraterrestrial hybrids’.

The boy warrior from the second century AD is believed to have been aged between 18 months and two years old when he died.

Nikolay Sudarev, a scientist from

the Archaeology Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, denied the grave was linked to alien civilisations. ‘Elongated skulls were traditional for the Sarmatian culture,’ he said, according to Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. ‘They thought this was more beautiful.’

The artificially elongated skull was a sign of a ‘true warrior’ and the deformation process was practiced by a number of ancient cultures. It began early in childhood when the bones were still soft, and no surgery was needed. Special wooden planks were tied to the skull, pressing the bones and gradually altering the shape. Such deformations were seen as altering the character, and making the warriors ‘more aggressive’.

Near the skeleton was found a vessel made of clay, along with tiny beads.On the boy’s arm there was a copper bracelet.

While this infant was identified as male the Sarmatians were also famed for their female warriors who helped to conquer Crimea in ancient times.

The prominent role of the group’s women in warfare was seen as an inspiration to the Amazons.

Islamabad Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the former Petroleum Minister, was selected as the interim Prime Minister of Pakistan on Saturday.

The ruling PML-N unanimously decided to elevate Abbasi as the interim leader, till ousted PM Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shehbaz Sharif gets elected to the National Assembly. Reports claim that Abbasi’s tenure would last for roughly 45 days, the time period approximately required for the PML-N to get Shehbaz elected to the Parliament. The latter is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab.

The Supreme Court yesterday disqualified 67-year-old Nawaz for dishonesty and ordered the National Audit Bureau to probe the corruption allegations against Nawaz and his family. In the PML-N consultative session on Friday, Nawaz had proposed the

name of his brother as the next Prime Minister, party sources were reported as saying by Geo News. The participants of the meet agreed to his proposal, with none raising objection. But Shehbaz, 65, cannot immediately replace his brother as he is not an MP. In order to become the prime minister, he would have to be elected first.

Hence, Abbasi has been named as interim prime minister who will resign once Shehbaz is elected.

Pakistan has seen such arrangements in the past too.

During former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf s time, politician Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was appointed as an interim prime minister until Shaukat Aziz, who was nominated by Musharraf, got elected by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q).

Issue - 730 (9)

1 - 7 August, 2017

Discrimination Against Muslims on Rise in US: Survey

Washington The US is becoming an increasingly Muslim-unfriendly country, a survey released by the Pew Research Center revealed on Wednesday.The study showed that nearly threequarters of Muslims interviewed agreed that there was “a lot of discrimination against Muslims in the US,” and nearly two-thirds of them said they were unsatisfied about where the nation has been headed, Xinhua reported.Muslim opinion has undergone a stark reversal since 2011, when Barack Obama was president, at which point most Muslims thought the country was headed in the right direction, said the survey.About 48 per cent of respondents admitted that

they have experienced at least one incident of discrimination in the past 12 months, which was up from 40 per cent in 2007.

About one-in-five Muslims in the US have seen anti-Muslim graffiti in their local community in the past year.

The survey pointed out that Muslims were “leery of Trump” and thought their fellow Americans did not see Islam as part of mainstream US society.

Meanwhile, Muslim Americans remained persistently optimistic and positive. About 89 per cent of the respondents expressed pride in their Muslimness and Americanness.

It is estimated that there are roughly 3.35 million Muslims living in the country.

UK to bring in drone registration LONDON: The UK government has announced plans to introduce drone registration and safety awareness courses for owners of the small unmanned aircraft. It will affect anyone who owns a drone which weighs more than 250 grams (8oz). Drone maker DJI said it was in favour of the measures. There is no time frame or firm plans as to how the new rules will be enforced and the Department of Transport admitted that “the nuts and bolts still have to be ironed out”. The drone safety awareness test will involve potential flyers having to “prove that they understand UK safety, security and privacy regulations”, it said.–BBC The plans also include the extension of geo-fencing, in which no-fly zones are programmed into drones using GPS co-ordinates, around areas such as prisons and airports.

S African girl, 9, is third child with HIV remission PARIS A South African girl has become only the third child to beat the AIDS virus into long-term remission - almost nine years and counting - after receiving a drug cocktail in infancy, researchers announced Monday.

The child was given a ten-month course of anti-AIDS medicine until she was one year old, then taken off the drugs as part of a medical trial.Eight years and nine months later, the virus is still dormant and the girl healthy without needing treatment, a research team reported at the International AIDS Society conference on HIV science in Paris. “This new case strengthens our hope that by treating HIV-infected children for a brief period beginning in infancy, we may be able to spare them the burden of life-long therapy,” said AIDS expert Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) which funded the study.

Some scientists refer to sustained, drug-free remission as a “functional cure”. Unlike a traditional cure, where the virus is eradicated, the patient still has HIV in their system but it is so weakened that it cannot replicate or spread to sexual partners.Researchers hope that by treating people as soon as possible after infection, they can one day induce drug-free remission for sustained periods of time, perhaps for good.This has become a major focus of research amid fading hopes of finding a permanent cure. The virus has proven more sneaky than imagined - it has the ability to hide out in human cells and

Three-man crew reaches International Space Station

Baikonur A three-man space crew from Italy, Russia and the United States on Friday arrived at the International Space Station for a five-month mission.

Footage broadcast by Russia’s space agency Roscosmos showed the Soyuz craft carrying Nasa astronaut Randy Bresnik, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazansky and Paolo Nespoli of

the European Space Agency take off into the dusky sky from Kazhakstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome.

Six hours later, after orbiting Earth four times, the Soyuz docked with the space station.

The hatches between them were to open later, after pressurization and leak checks are carried out, according to the US space agency Nasa.

The arrival of the three astronauts boosted the ISS back up to its full capacity of six for the first time since April, after Russia decided to cut the number of its cosmonauts to two.Nasa has responded to Russia’s reduction by boosting the number of astronauts that will operate in its half of the ISS. In total, four astronauts - Peggy Whitson, Jack Fischer, Bresnik and Nespoli - will now conduct experiments in the Nasa-run segment, with Ryazansky joining Fyodor Yurchikhin to man the Russian section. Bresnik said at a pre-launch press conference on Thursday that the extra member would help the crew conduct experiments and carry out repairs. “There is a ton of science to do,” he said ahead of the flight. Bresnik - who is on his second flight - also praised the work of Whitson, Fischer and Yurchikhin, already aboard the orbital lab.

play dead for years, only to reemerge and attack as soon as treatment is stopped.Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment inhibits the virus, but doesn’t kill it, and infected people have to take pills daily for life which are costly and have side-effects.A rare group of

months of life, but the virus rebounded in a major let-down for researchers. Now there is the South African girl - the first case of remission in a child enrolled in a trial to test the effectiveness of early treatment, for a limited time.“Relapse is a possibility in

infected people - fewer than one percent - are able naturally to stop the virus replicating. They are known as “elite controllers”, but the mechanism by which they keep the virus at bay remains a mystery.The girl does not have “elite controller” DNA, said the study authors.Among people taking virus-suppressing anti-retroviral drugs, only a few have attained drug-free remission.They include 14 adults in a French trial who were able to quit their medication after three years and stayed healthy.

A French woman aged 20, treated as a baby, has been healthy for 14 years since stopping her medication - the longest-known remission.In the United States, the so-called Mississippi Baby was in remission for 27 months after being given ART for the first 18

any case of remission,” underlined study co-leader Avy Violari of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

However, “the fact that remission has been for a long period suggests this is likely to be durable,” she told AFP.Researchers do not understand how the girl achieved remission when 410 other children in the trial did not.Meanwhile, Swaziland, which bears the world’s heaviest HIV burden, has halved the rate of new infections in five years by boosting access to virus-suppressing drugs, researchers said Monday.The country where about one in three adults are infected with the AIDScausing virus, has vastly expanded public programmes to test people for HIV infection and put them on life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART).

Toddler among 26 migrants found in refrigerated lorry in North France

Lille,france Twenty-six migrants, including a two-year-old, were discovered in a refrigerated lorry at a ferry terminal near the northern French port of Dunkirk, the emergency services say. The toddler, whose Iranian mother was also in the lorry, was taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia after the migrants were found in the lorry early yesterday as they attempted to reach Britain.

“The ferry terminal security service contacted emergency

services after the discovery of a group of 26 migrants in a refrigerated lorry,” the regional rescue services authority said in a statement. The two-year-old, suffering from “mild hypothermia”, was taken to hospital in Dunkirk for treatment. Migrants from the Middle East and Africa regularly attempt to reach Britain from France after having travelled up through Europe, smuggling aboard lorries about to cross the Channel by ferry or the Eurotunnel.

Issue - 730 (10)

Professionally qualified Canadian match for very a beautiful, fair girl, Canadian PR, 27 yrs., 5'-3" tall, Sikh, B. Tech. (electronics), M.S. (computer science), working in top multinational corporation and hails from a well know family in Toronto. Annulment after a short marriage. Please email a recent picture and biodata to: panesar1010@gmail.com or call: 647-674-7240 ***733*** Jatt Sikh Parents invites professional match for their US citizen daughter, 32 yrs. old, 5’2" tall, M.D. from Ukraine, Completed USMLE step 1&2 and preparing for C.S. Exam.

Please send your bio-data & recent picture to:juspal_500@yahoo.com or Call:510-304-5188 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 25 yrs.old, 5'-11" tall, bachelor’s degree in Business Management from University of Toronto, currently working, earning six figure salary, handsome, nonsmoker, belongs to a well settled family. The girl should be between 23-27 yrs. Canadian citizen/ immigrant, well educated and with family values. Please email your recent picture and bio-data to: gulraj.gill@yahoo.ca or call : 647-467-3472 *** 730 *** Jatt Sikh family seek a suitable match for their Canadian citizen daughter, 38 yrs. old, 5'-1" tall, never married, well educated, working in a top ranking bank of Canada, well versed in both cultures. The boy should be Canadian immigrant/citizen, non drinker, non-smoker, well educated, professionally settled between 35-40 yrs. of age. High skilled, well setlled boy on work permit may also be considered.

Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: ksandhu888@hotmail.com or call: 1-778-989-4510 *** 730 *** Seeking a groom for Hindu Punjabi Kashyap Rajpoot girl, Canadian immigrant, 28 yrs. old, 5'-4" tall, fair complexion, M.B.A. in finance. Whole family in well settled in Canada. The boy should be Canadain citizen or permanent resident. The boy on student visa or work permit may also on considered. Caste no bar.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: vkashyap@outlook.com or call: 1-450-949-0950 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 32 yrs.old, 5'-5" tall, Canadian citizen, beautiful, family oriented, working as a nursing unit assistant in health care field. The boy should be from Canada, well educated, tall, employed with good family values. Please send your recent pictures and bio-data to : amankang2011@gmail.com or call : 1-604-716-6242 *** 730 ***

1 - 7 August, 2017

Tonk Kshtriya family seeking a suitable match for their Canadian citizen daughter, 29 yrs.old, 5'3" tall, CGA, B.Com, working in govt. job. The boy should be well educated, clean shaven, professionally settled. Caste no bar. Toronto based family will be prefered. Please send your recent picture and bio-data to : jagsingh513@gmail.com or call : 416-722-9771 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh family seeking a suitable match for their daughter, born 1988, 5'-5" tall, Canadian citizen, 4 years degree in criminology, working with federal govt. The boy should be from Canada, well educated, well settled and from reputed family background. B. C. area preferred. Please email your recent picture and bio-data to : ninichahal@gmail.com or call : 1-778-997-6366 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh Gill family seek a suitable match for their son, 32 yrs. old, 5'-7" tall, Canadian born, Branch Manager in Bank in Vancouver Area. Please call : 1250-442-8501 or 1-250-442-4238 *** 730 *** Professionally qualified Canadian match for very beautiful, fair girl, Canadian PR, 27 yrs old, 5'-7" tall, Sikh, B. tech (electronics), M. S. (computer science), working in top Multinational corporation Toronto, well known family. Caste no bar. Please email recent picture and bio-data to : panesar1010@gamil.com or call : 647-674-7240 *** 730 *** Ramgarhia family seeking a suitable match for their good looking daughter, born 1991, 5'3" tall, architect by profession, residing in India, father retired as major from Indian army and running business at Hydrabad looking for well settled boy in Canada. Please email recent picture and bio-data to : gurubani97@hotmail.com or call : 011-91-98480-47947 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh family looking for a suitable match for their daughter, 26 yrs.old, 5'-4" tall, born and raised in Canada, doctor, beautiful, fair complexion, family oriented. The boy should be professionally qualified, handsome, born or raised in Canada, with family values.

Please email recent pictures and bio-data to : vancouver06@outlook.com *** 730 *** Jat Sikh Randhawa parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 25 yrs. old, 5'-7" tall, manglik, Canadian immigrant, UK. PR, worked in British Army, schooling and other education from UK, doing job in Canada and earning handsome. The girl should be educated Nursing/Master’s degree with IELTS, beautiful family oriented, co-operative and adjustable Canada resident family/ Indian traditional family preferred. Please email recent pictured and bio-data to : randhawa1992harminder@gmail.com

or call : 1-604-910-3500 *** 730 *** Punjabi status family seeks a beautiful professional girl below 34 yrs. old, 5'- 4" to 5'- 7", willing to relocate to California, for their son 38 yrs. old, 5'- 10" tall, US Citizen, Brief Marriage, well settled Prosthodontist (Dental Specialist), owns home, California Bay area. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: (boy direct) gauravsetiadds@gmail.com or shubhkalyan108@gmail.com or call: 1-415-954-2002 *** 730 *** Jatt Sikh family Seek a suitable match for their son, 88 born, 5'11" tall, handsome, Canadian citizen, working as an Engineer.

The girl should be well educated, Canadian citizen/ immigrant& from good family background. Girl on Student/ Work visa will be considered.

Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: prabh234@hotmail.com or call: 1- 778-982-1172 *** 730 *** Ramgarhia (Bansal) Sikh family seek a suitable match for their daughter living in India, 1976 born, 5'-4" tall, B.A., diploma in painting & dress designing, fair, beautiful, fit-slim. The boy should be Canadian/American immigrant or citizen, educated, well settled. Father & brother are businessman. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: companybansal@gmail.com or call: 647-996-9601, 011-9198159-03689 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh family seek a suitable match for their daughter, 1982 born, 5'-5" tall, slim, convent educated, professional, Canadian immigrant, beautiful. The boy should be well educated, family oriented. Family is well settled in U.S.A. Please send your biodata & recent picture to: satindernagra21@gmail.com or call: 1-484-403-8645 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh family seeking a suitable match for their Canadian PR daughter, 30 yrs.old, 5'-6" tall.

MCA degree holder, working with immigration Consultancy Company in Toronto, beautiful and family oriented. The boy should be Canadian PR/citizen, professionally educated and settled. Boy on work permit may also be considered. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to : gurjeet1888@gmail.com or call : 1-306-681-5701 or 647-391-9898 or 1-213-399-1778 *** 730 *** Tonk Kshatriya Punjabi Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their Canadian citizen daughter, 28 yrs.old, 5'-7" tall, slim, family oriented, Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Pharmacy Technician, working in hospital as a registered nurse. The boy should be Canadian citizen or PR, well educated, professionally settled with family values. Caste no bar. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to:

infomatrimonial27@yahoo.com or call 647-296-5065 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh Uppal family seek a suitable match for their son, 24 yrs.old. 5’-10" tall, clean shaven, B.A., 2 yrs. diploma in plumbing, living in India, having good rural & urban property. The girl should be Canadian/American immigrant or citizen, educated, tall, beautiful, well versed in both cultures. Boy’s two sisters are well settled in California U.S.A. please send your bio-data & recent picture to: kamsan_ji@yahoo.com or call: 1916-710-9911 (whatsApp) *** 730 *** Ramgarhia Dhiman Sikh family seek a Suitable match for their son,69 born, 6'-1" tall, Canadian Citizen, sincere,hardworking, sober,much younger looking, DivorcedTurbaned,Slim,B.E.(Comp.

Sc),L.LB., $70K + income. The female should be sincere, sobber, educated.Upper caste no bar.

Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: preetgee@yahoo.ca or call:6479685040 *** 730 *** Lobana Sikh family seeks a suitable match for their Canadian immigrant son, 1985 born, 6' tall, handsome, B. Tech plus 2 years advanced network security, settled in a job in bank in Toronto.

The girl should be Canadian immigrant/citizen, well educated, beautiful and family oriented.

Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: jaswinder1768@yahoo.com or call: 905-910-1512 *** 730 *** Lobana Sikh family seeks a suitable match for their Canadian PR daughter, born Dec 1986, 5'8" tall, well educated, well versed in both cultures. The boy should be Canadian citizen/immigrant, well educated, professionally employed with good family values.

Serious inquiries only. Caste no bar. Send your bio-data and recent pictures to: jaswinder1768@yahoo.com or call: 905-910-1512 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, born in 1981, 5’-8" tall, belongs to a very well settled family, B. Com. Degree holder, issueless divorce, living with her sister in Branmpton. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: umamilvartan@hotmail.com or call: 437-998-3490 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 40 yrs. old, 6’ tall, never married before, graduated from Canada, running his own successful business, handsome, belong to a good family background. The girl should be educated, family oriented and with good family background. Family is well settled in Canada. Please call: 905-876-5860 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh Aulakh family seek a suitable match for their son, 27 yrs. old, 5'-9" tall, vegetarian,

lecturer in Govt college Amritsar.

The girl should be Canadian immigrant/citizen. Maternal family is well settled in Canada.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to : chandanbkrandhawa@gmail.com or call: 647-896-4424 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh family seeking a suitable match for their son, 26 yrs.old, 5'-10" tall, raised in England, Canadian immigrant, educated, working for a financial institution in Toronto, from a good family background. The girl should be well-educated, born or raised in Canada, pretty, family oriented, must be 5'-5" or more tall.

Please email recent picture & bio-data to: raminderhundal@hotmail.com or call: 647-867-4846 *** 730 *** Sikh male, 70 yrs. old, 5'-7" tall, living in Bay Area California looking for partner to share life, travel etc. , very good health. The partner should be independent, out going & free of obligations.

Please send your full bio-data & recent picture to: rogerbawa@yahoo.com or call: 1-510-755-7875 *** 730 *** Ramdasia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter Canadian citizen, 26 yrs.old, 5'-6" tall, B.Sc.nursing degree holder, well settled in a job in hospital, beautiful and family oriented. The boy should be well educated, handsome, tall, professionally settled from good family background from Canada. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: gur9canada@gmail.com or call: 416-551-8884 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh Boparai family seeking a suitable match for their daughter, 26 yrs old , 5’-,6" tall,living in india, pursuing Ph.D. in bio-technology. The boy should be highly qualified, handsome, well settled Jat Sikh in Canada/India.Dadka family well settled in Canada, Surrey.Father has a ten year visa. Call:1-604-377-0814 or 011 -91-94176-23632 *** 730 *** Kharti Sikh family seeks a suitable match for their slim, beautiful, issueless, divorced, professionally employed, Canadian citizen daughter, 37 yrs old, 5'-5" tall, ( looks like 30 yrs old). The boy should be professionally qualified, employed and settled in Canada.

Please email recent pictures and bio-data to gavneetkaur@hotmail.com or call: 647-381-1147 *** 730 *** Jat Sikh parents seeking a sutable match for their Canadian born daughter, 35 yrs. old, 5’-3” tall, University educated, working in HR at reputable company. The boy should be professionally educated, family oriented and with modern values. Ontario/Montreal preferd.

Please Call : 416-625-3206 *** 730 ***

Issue - 730 (11)

1 - 7 August, 2017

British and American girls are fattest in world LONDON American and British girls are the worst in the world for carrying dangerous stomach fat.A study has found more than half of girls in the US and the UK are ‘overfat’, putting them at risk of diabetes and cancer.

These children may appear to be of normal weight, but having a waist circumference of more than half their height is enough to put them in the danger category.In the rankings of the world’s 30 most developed countries, US schoolgirls are the fattest, followed by the UK on this measurement.

On average, almost 87 percent of men and more than threequarters of women in the list are ‘overfat’, storing their weight around their middle rather than elsewhere on their body.It raises fresh concerns about female weight gain - particularly around the stomach, which is the most dangerous - at a young age.

The term overfat refers to the presence of excess body fat that can wreak havoc on health even in normal-weight nonobese people.Excess body fat, especially around the middle, is associated with increased risk of chronic diseases, increased morbidity and mortality, and reduced quality of life. The study,

led by Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, states: ‘The prevalence of overfat populations in 30 of the world’s most developed countries is substantially higher than recent global estimations, with the largest growth due to a relatively recent increased number of people with excess abdominal fat.’ Collaborating with researchers in San Diego, the team reported earlier this year in the journal Frontiers of Public Health that up to 76 percent of the world’s population may be overfat.Now these same researchers have focused their efforts on data from 30 of the top developed countries, with even more alarming findings.

They found that, in the top overfat countries, 80 percent of women fall into this category.

The problem is particularly pervasive in the UK and the US, where the Western diet is the universal preference.However, the researchers were surprised to discover that Iceland and even Greece - where people are generally thought to be healthier - had similar statistics. This trend may be bad news for developing countries as well, since they have followed the trend of developed nations in the growing overfat pandemic.

Princess Diana’s personal music collection among items to go on show at palace

In developed countries, up to 90 percent of adult males and 50 percent children may suffer from this condition.A recent rise in the amount of stomach fat, the unhealthiest form of excess body fat, has been observed in both adults and children.Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at Glasgow University’s Institute of

but the evidence also shows physical activity in girls tends to fall faster than it does in boys, which can help to prevent weight gain.’The research team said that suggests a direct link to insulin-resistance, the body’s natural propensity to convert and store carbohydrate foods as fat.

The relationship between the overfat condition and poor health

UAE arranged for hacking of Qatar govt sites, sparking diplomatic row: Report

Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, said: ‘Measuring the weight around someone’s middle can be an indicator in adults of their risk of diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease and, when measured early in pregnancy, of the risk pregnancy complications.

‘This is not the part of the body where women and girls tend to put on weight first so the fact that young girls are among the worst for this measure is a worry.

‘We know we have a problem in this country, and the biggest factor is the food environment,

is a spectrum or progression in which the vicious cycle of excess body fat, insulin resistance and chronic inflammation lie at one end, causing abnormal blood fats and glucose, and elevated blood pressure, which then produces a variety of common diseases at the other end. Being overfat is linked to hypertension, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, Type 2 diabetes, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and gout, pulmonary diseases, sleep apnea and others. Many physically active people,

Woman undergoes plastic surgery to evade $3.7m debt

LONDON Rarely-seen possessions belonging to Britain’s late Princess Diana including her music collection and ballet shoes are to go on display this summer at London’s Buckingham Palace to mark the 20th anniversary of her death.

Many of the objects selected to feature in the display were chosen by Diana’s sons Princes William and Harry “to reflect their mother’s commitment to duty and their personal memories of her”, the Royal Collection Trust said on Friday.

Diana, the first wife of heir-to-thethrone Prince Charles, was killed in a car crash in Paris in August 1997 and a number of commemorative events have been planned to mark her death.

William and Harry attended a private service earlier this month to re-dedicate her grave and the brothers have also commissioned a statue to be erected in her

honor outside their official London home.

Among the possessions to be featured in the display are a leather photo frame with pictures of family and friends, a burgundy leather briefcase, and her school “tuck box”, which she used to keep sweets and other treats in while she was away at boarding school, which has the name “D Spencer” written on it.

The tribute also includes a case of cassette tapes, featuring albums by artists such as George Michael, Diana Ross and Elton John, who famously sang at her funeral.

The exhibition opens on Saturday and visitors to the palace will also be able to see a collection of more than 200 gifts made to Queen Elizabeth during her 65year reign including a paperweight made from a dinosaur bone and a Union Flag badge worn in space by British astronaut Major Tim Peake.

including professional athletes in various sports and active US military personnel, also may fall into the overfat category.

Traditional means of assessment, such as stepping on a scale or calculating Body Mass Index (BMI), are ineffective at determining whether someone is overfat.

Instead, researchers recommend taking a measure of the waistline (at the level of the belly button) and comparing it to height: The waist measure should be less than half a person’s.

SHANGHAI A 59-year old woman from the central Chinese city of Wuhan transformed her appearance through plastic surgery in order to avoid 25 million yuan ($3.71 million) of personal debts, state news agency Xinhua said.

In a case highlighting the challenges facing China as it tries to establish a “credit society”, police officers were reported to be “astonished” after apprehending the woman, who fled to the southeastern Chinese city of Shenzhen after a court in Wuhan ordered her to pay off her debt.

“We were very surprised at the scene,” the official Xinhua news agency quoted a policeman as

saying. “She looked in her thirties and was different from the photos we had.”The woman, identified as Zhu Najuan, also confessed to using other people’s identity cards to travel across the country by train. She financed her plastic surgery using borrowed bank cards, Xinhua said late on Friday.Representatives from more than 300 Chinese cities released a declaration earlier in July promising to make more credit available for consumer spending, part of the country’s efforts to find new sources of economic growth and reduce its dependence on heavy industry and state-driven infrastructure investment.

Washington The United Arab Emirates arranged for Qatari government social media and news sites to be hacked in late May in order to post fiery but false quotes linked to Qatar’s emir, prompting a diplomatic crisis, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing U.S. intelligence officials. The emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, had been quoted in May as praising Hamas and saying that Iran was an “Islamic power,” the Post reported. In response, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar said in late May that hackers had posted fake remarks by the emir, an explanation rejected by Gulf states. The Post reported that U.S. intelligence officials learned last week of newly analyzed information that showed that top UAE government officials discussed the planned hacks on May 23, the day before they occurred.

The officials said it was unclear if the UAE hacked the websites or paid for them to be carried out, the newspaper reported. The Post did not identify the intelligence officials it spoke to for the report. UAE Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba denied the report in a statement, saying it was “false,” the Post said.

“What is true is Qatar’s behavior.

Funding, supporting, and enabling extremists from the Taliban to Hamas and Qadafi.

Inciting violence, encouraging radicalization, and undermining the stability of its neighbors,” the statement said. The U.S. State Department declined comment in response to a Reuters query.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was previously known to be working with Qatar to probe the hacking.

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Bangladeshi twins born joined at skull to undergo surgery

DHAKA Bangladeshi twins born conjoined at the skull will undergo a difficult and potentially dangerous operation to separate them, surgeons said Wednesday as they appealed for help from global medical experts. Doctors are trying to establish whether the one-year-old girls, born otherwise healthy in northwest Bangladesh, share the same brain, something that would vastly complicate the surgery.

“It would be a very delicate and sensitive surgery,” said Ruhul Amin, chief paediatric surgeon at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in the capital Dhaka. “We’re evaluating their condition and trying to contact experts across the world for opinions and help.” Their parents, both schoolteachers, came to Dhaka shortly after Rabia and Rukia were born, to seek medical help. Amin said the girls were healthy and playful but he wanted more time to study their condition to minimise the risks of surgery as much as possible.

The parents did not even know they were having twins before the birth, with scans not revealing any abnormalities or indications of two children, said their father Rafiqul Islam. “The doctor only said it was a baby with a bigger head,” he told.

Hong Kong Maids Lured by Islamic State Recruiters Hong Kong Indonesian maids working in Hong Kong are being radicalised by extremists from the Islamic State group, a security think-tank said in a report today.

Around 150,000 of the city’s army of domestic helpers are from Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

Against a backdrop of growing religious conservatism at home, a small number of militant maids has emerged, according to a report from the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC).

But rights activists and the Indonesian Muslim community in Hong Kong said they were unaware of radicals and fear that reported links with IS would breed unfair suspicion.

The IPAC investigation described a “radical fringe” of around 45 Indonesian domestic helpers, who may have been attracted to militant circles by “the search for a sense of community in an unfamiliar environment.”

“Some of these women were drawn by jihadi boyfriends they met online,” says IPAC analyst Nava Nuraniyah. “But some joined ISIS as a path to

30-metre asteroid set to skim past Earth on Oct 12 ON OCTOBER 12, a 30-metre is set to make a “close” flyby of Earth. The asteroid, named 2012 TC4, will pass just 6,800 kilometre from Earth for the first time since it went out of range in 2012.

Nasa is using this opportunity to test it’s “planetary

defence system” put in place to protect Earth from a doomsday asteroid threat. Asteroid 2012 TC4 is estimated to be between 10 and 30 metres in size. Michael Kelley, a scientist working on the Nasa TC4 observation campaign, said: “Scientists have always appreciated knowing when an asteroid will make a close approach to and safely pass the Earth because they can make preparations to collect data to characterise and learn as much as possible about it. “This time, we are adding in another layer of effort, using this asteroid flyby to test the worldwide asteroid detection and tracking network, assessing our

capability to work together in response to finding a potential real asteroid threat.” Nasa hopes to use its international network of observatories to recover, track and characterise 2012 TC4.

Professor Vishnu Reddy, who is leading the campaign, said: “This is a team effort that involves more than a dozen observatories, universities and labs across the globe so we can collectively learn the strengths and limitations of our near-Earth object observation capabilities. “This effort will exercise the entire system, to include the initial and follow-up observations, precise orbit determination, and international communications.” Based on predictions made at Nasa’s Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies, 2012 TC4 will pass no closer than 4,200 miles from Earth, although it will more likely pass much farther away, as far as 270,000 kilometre.

The asteroid was first discovered in 2012, when it sped past Earth, but it has been too distant and faint to see over the last five years. But as it starts to approach Earth in the coming months, large telescopes will be used to detect it and establish the asteroid’s precise trajectory.

The new observations are expected to help refine knowledge about its orbit, narrowing the uncertainty about how far it will be from Earth at its closest approach in October. Paul Chodas, a manager working on the project, said: “This is the perfect target for such an exercise because while we know the orbit of 2012 TC4 well enough to be absolutely certain it will not impact Earth, we haven’t established its exact path just yet. “It will be incumbent upon the observatories to get a fix on the asteroid as it approaches, and work together to obtain follow-up observations than make more refined asteroid orbit determinations possible.”

empowerment.”

A string of abuse cases has highlighted the exploitation of maids in Hong Kong by unscrupulous employment agencies which confiscate their passports, claim their wages and keep them in the dark about their rights.

But the IPAC report said illtreatment did not seem to have played a direct role in radicalisation, although it had led to the establishment of an Islamic advocacy group to act as a kind of union.

The war in Syria has fuelled interest in militant groups as jihadi social media stoked sympathy for Sunni victims, the report said.

It told the story of one woman who turned to radicalism after

years of turmoil in her personal life and became a key player in helping Indonesian jihadis get to Syria, sometimes via Hong Kong.

A handful of maids ended up going to Syria themselves, said IPAC, a leading think-tank which has published numerous reports on conflicts in Southeast Asia.

Hong Kong media has previously reported about IS supporters leafleting Indonesian domestic helpers as they gathered in public spaces across the city on Sundays, their day off.

One heavily pregnant maid who went missing in 2015 was said to have told friends she was planning to link up with Islamic State militants in Syria alongside her husband, according to the South China Morning Post.

Heart rate study tests emotional impact of Shakespeare

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON-In a world where on-screen violence has become commonplace, Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company is turning to science to discover whether the playwright can still make our hearts race more than 400 years on.The renowned theatre company has started measuring the pulse of audience members as they are confronted by some of the most harrowing scenes ever written

by Shakespeare in the Roman tragedy “Titus Andronicus”.

The play, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, is a tale of murderous revenge and savagery. In one scene, a bloodied Lavinia writhes on stage after rapists cut off her hands and tongue. Audience members have been known to pass out or vomit at the play’s shocking cruelty during performances. Becky Loftus, head of audience insight at the

RSC, is spearheading the innovative study to measure reactions to the English Renaissance writer’s work.“It’s notoriously Shakespeare’s bloodiest play... It can be quite polarising because of the amount of violence in it,” Loftus told AFP. “Are we inured to violence now because of things like (TV show) ‘Game of Thrones’?” she said.The comparative study is being carried out in the theatre and at a live-streaming of the play in a cinema in Stratford - the town in central England where Shakespeare was born in 1564.

“Some people feel that it’s never as good to be in the cinema, because you don’t get the effect of being in the room and having people act in front of you.“But then some people say that being in the cinema is like having the best seat in the house and you get the closer view,” Loftus said.

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Woman delivers baby mid-air over Atlantic ocean Bogota It was an incredible moment for crew members and passengers of Lufthansa flight LH543, which

took off from Colombian capital Bogota on July 25 with 191 passengers. Headed for Germany’s Frankfurt, it landed unscheduled in Manchester with an extra passenger on board!

Desislava K, a 38-year-old

Bulgaria-based woman, gave birth to a baby boy 39,000 feet above the North Atlantic.

As the mom-to-be started

experiencing labour pain, the 13 crew members on board prepared to deliver the baby. And soon they found out that there were three doctors among the passengers.

“The crew moved several

China shuts down over 3,900 illegal websites Beijing A total of 3,918 illegal websites were shut down by China’s Internet watchdogs from April to June this year, official media reported. The websites included those that published content that jeopardised national security, and those that spread violence, vulgarity or ungrounded rumours, according to the statement by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued last night. Up

to 316 cases related to illegal websites were handed to judicial organs in the same period, staterun Xinhua news agency reported.

More than 810,000 illicit cyber accounts were also closed in the second quarter of the year, the CAC said. In addition 443 websites were summoned by cyber watchdogs for law-breaking while 172 received warnings, as part of cyber law enforcement that has been highlighted over the months, it said.

Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos is World’s Richest Man, Surpasses Bill Gates

New Delhi Amazon founder Jeff Bezos surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the World’s richest man. The reports arrived after Amazon registered a 2.4 percent rise in shares leading to Bezos new repute as the rise reportedly eclipsed Gates by 700 million dollar.

Bezos owns about 17 percent of the shares in Amazon and the value has now exceeded 500 billion dollars. According to BBC for the first three months of 2017, Amazon’s sales jumped 23 per cent to 35.7 billion dollars. The Amazon founder recently ventured into the Blue Origin space rocket business and in 2013 bought the Washington

Post newspaper. According to a CNBC report, Amazon’s share price jumped by more than 15 dollar per share overnight. On Wednesday, Forbes and Bloomberg reported that Bezos’ net worth was over 89 billion dollar as of the close of markets on Wednesday. Bezos owns around 80 million shares of Amazon and with this surge will add more than 800 million dollar to his fortune.

Jeff Bezos began his journey from a garage when he sold books 22 years ago and as of today, he is the first man to overtake Gates who held the position for seven years. According to Forbes, he is the sixth man to hold the title, ‘Richest Person’ in the past 30 years.

passengers to seats in the front, and the rear part of the plane became an impromptu delivery room. The entire area was closed off with a privacy screen,” Lufthansa said in a statement, issued on Friday.The baby was named Nikolai the same name as one of the doctors, the statement said.In a video posted

by Lufthansa on its Twitter account, crew member Carolin van Osch said it was a “very very emotional moment”, adding “we hugged each other and shed tears of joy”.

This was the 11th birth on a Lufthansa flight since 1965.

“At first, I could not believe it because a birth on board is something very special...after we calmed down a bit, we started our work according to the procedures we have learned,” flight captain Kurt Mayer said in the video.

The airlines received praises and invited a flurry of questions on Twitter after announcing the news through its handle.

When one of the users asked if the baby will get free Lufthansa tickets for a lifetime, the airline clarified that it was not their policy. “We don’t have this rule, we’ll definitely think of something nice for him. And he’ll always have a special place in our <3 (heart),” Lufthansa tweeted.

In June, a baby was born on India-based Jet Airways flight travelling from Dammam in Saudi Arabia to Kochi.

Facebook Works With Harvard Against Hackers Targeting US Elections

San Francisco Facebook Inc said on Wednesday that it will work with a Harvard University project against hackers who target elections in the US. The company headquartered in Menlo Park said it will provide initial funding of $500,000 for the project, called Defending Digital Democracy (DDD), launched a week ago by the Belfer Center at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Xinhua reported.

At the time, the Belfer Center said the project will include Facebook and Google to “identify and recommend strategies, tools, and technology to protect democratic processes and systems from cyber and information attacks.”

Facebook made its move on Wednesday during Black Hat, an annual security event held in Las Vegas.

The project will be co-led by Robby Mook, Democrat Hillary

Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign manager and Matt Rhoades, Republican Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign manager.

“By creating a unique and bipartisan team comprised of topnotch political operatives and leaders in the cyber and national security world, DDD intends to offer concrete solutions to an urgent problem,” the center stated in a news release.

“Americans across the political spectrum agree that political contests should be decided by the power of ideas, not the skill of foreign hackers,” Eric Rosenbach, Co-Director of the Belfer Center and former assistant secretary of defense, was quoted as saying. “Cyber deterrence starts with strong cyber defense — and this project brings together key partners in politics, national security, and technology to generate innovative ideas to safeguard our key democratic institutions.”

Canada probes possible Saudi use of its equipment in crackdown Montreal Canada has warned it was reviewing reports that Saudi Arabia is using Canadian armored vehicles in a crackdown in the Sunni-ruled kingdom’s Shiite-majority east.

“We are looking at these claims very seriously… and have immediately launched a review,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in French, said in during a visit in central Canada.

The Globe and Mail reported earlier that light armored vehicles sold by Canada to Saudi Arabia had been used against Shia civilians in a major operation that left several people in the town of Awamiya in Eastern Province.

Experts told the newspaper that vehicles appearing in photos and videos of the Saudi operations were Gurkha RPVs produced by Terradyne Armored Vehicles near Toronto.Earlier, a spokesman indicated that Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland was “deeply concerned about this situation and has asked officials to review it immediately.” “If it is found that Canadian exports have been used to commit serious violations of human rights, the minister will take action,” added

spokesman John Babcock.

“The government is actively seeking more information about Saudi Arabia’s current efforts to

by the previous Conservative government. Trudeau’s Liberal government has had to defend this contract against criticism

deal with its security challenges, the reports of civilian casualties, and the reports that Canadianmade vehicles have been used

by Saudi Arabia in its current security operations,” he said in a statement. “Canada will review all available information as it determines an appropriate course of action.” Babcock said Ottawa had shared its concerns with Saudi Arabia, demanding that “its internal security operations be conducted in a manner consistent with international human rights law.”

The controversial $13 billion US contract to supply Riyadh with light armored vehicles was struck

that it may have violated Canada’s export control rules that bar arms exports to countries with a poor human rights record and the prohibit using these weapons against civilians.Freeland’s predecessor, Stephane Dion, had stated in April 2016 that the government would halt or revoke the export license for the military equipment if credible information showed it was being used inappropriately.

“We have contracts in which people commit to respect Canadian laws, the terms of the contract and Canadian values, and we expect these contracts to be respected,” Trudeau said.

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Two Sikh-Americans killed in US city targets smartphone US, community demands probe zombies with crosswalk ban Washington Two Sikh Americans have been killed in separate incidents in California, according to community organisations and media reports.

of the Sikh community say this would not be the first, it said.

“Honestly, we are very hurt, it just hurts us. And it just we then, think what else do we need to do,” Gurdeep

Subag Singh, 68, was found dead in a canal after he went missing in the morning of June 23. His body had injuries.

California law enforcement officials from Fresno county have said that they were trying to find out who was responsible for the killing of the elderly Sikh American. “Deputies found his body with visible trauma in a canal on McCall and Jensen. Investigators are trying to piece together what led up to the body being found in a canal,” Fox26 news said in a report. Deputies are not saying if this was a hate crime or not, but members

Shergill, a local community leader, was quoted as saying.

In a separate incident, Simranjit Singh, 20, of Elk Grove was shot dead on July 25 outside a gas station where he worked.

According to Sacramento Bee news, he was shot dead by men who had earlier assaulted his coworker. “At this point in both investigations, it is unclear if either of these crimes were racially motivated but we are working with both local and federal laws enforcement authorities to ensure these murders are thoroughly investigated

and that the local jurisdictions are treating the cases with the utmost importance,” said Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF).

“These attacks are inexcusable and we offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of Subag Singh and Simranjit Singh.

“We call upon local and federal law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate these heinous crimes and classify them as hate incidents if hate is show to be a motive,” SALDEF executive director Baldev Singh said.

There have been a number of attacks targeting IndianAmericans and Sikhs in the recent months in the US. In March, a 39-yearold Sikh man was shot in the arm outside his home in Kent, Washington, by a partially-masked gunman who shouted “go back to your own country”.

In February, 32-year-old Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed when a US Navy veteran opened fire at him and his friend Alok Madasani, yelling “get out of my country”.

Man killed wife on cruise ship for laughing at him LOS ANGELES A man suspected of killing his wife while on a cruise ship in the US

defender has not commented.

The victim has been identified by US media as

state of Alaska did so because “she would not stop laughing” at him, a witness says. Kenneth Manzanares has been charged with the murder of his 39-year-old wife, whose body was found with severe head wounds in their cabin.

He was detained after security agents found blood on his hands and clothes, court documents said. Mr Manzanares’ court-appointed public

Kristy Manzanares, from Utah. A witness who entered the couple’s cabin before the security agents said he saw the 39-year-old suspect dragging the victim’s body to the balcony, the documents said.

The witness then grabbed the woman’s ankles and pulled her back in.

When he asked Mr Manzanares what had happened, the man allegedly said: “She

would not stop laughing at me.”Later, during a search by FBI agents, the suspect said, according to the documents: “My life is over.”

The incident happened on Tuesday night on the Emerald Princess cruise ship, operated by Princess Cruises. It had departed with some 3,400 passengers from Seattle on Sunday for a weeklong trip.Kristy Manzanares was described by her employer, Summit Sotheby’s International Realty, as being a “dedicated and loving mother who juggled her business schedule to make her children a top priority.” The FBI is investigating the case because it occurred in US waters. A spokesman said other family members were onboard the ship on the same trip, but details about them have not been released. Mr Manzanares made his first appearance in a federal court in Anchorage via video link from Juneau, where he was being held. A hearing has been scheduled for 10 August.

Honolulu A ban on pedestrians looking at mobile phones or texting while crossing the street will take effect in Hawaii’s largest city in late October, as Honolulu becomes the first major US city to pass legislation aimed at reducing injuries and deaths from “distracted walking”.

The ban comes as cities around the world grapple with how to protect phoneobsessed “smartphone zombies” from injuring themselves by stepping into traffic or running into stationary objects.

Starting October 25, Honolulu pedestrians can be fined between $15 and $99, depending on the number of times police catch them looking at a phone or tablet device as they cross the street, Mayor Kirk Caldwell told reporters gathered near one of the city’s busiest downtown intersections on Thursday. “We hold the unfortunate distinction of being a major city with more pedestrians being hit in crosswalks, particularly our seniors, than almost any other city in the county,” Caldwell said.

Honolulu data on

distracted-walking incidents was not immediately available.

Caldwell signed the legislation on Thursday after it was passed in a 72 vote by the city council

“Cell phones are not just pervading our roadways but pervading our sidewalks too,” Maureen Vogel, a spokeswoman for the council, said in a phone interview on Friday.

earlier this month, city records show.

People making calls for emergency services are exempt from the ban.

More than 11,000 injuries resulted from phone-related distraction while walking in the United States between 2000 and 2011, according to a University of Maryland study published in 2015.

The findings pushed the non-profit National Safety Council to add “distracted walking” to its annual compilation of the biggest risks for unintentional injuries and deaths in the United States, highlighting the severity of the issue.

Efforts to save pedestrians from their phones extend beyond America’s shores.

London has experimented with padding lamp posts to soften the blow for distracted walkers, according to the Independent newspaper.

In Germany, the city of Augsburg last year embedded traffic signals into the ground near tram tracks to help downwardfixated pedestrians avoid injury, local media reported. Opponents of the Honolulu law argued it infringes on personal freedom and amounts to government overreach.

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Caged in clichés Vinayak Chakravorty By

Indu Sarkar Cast: Kirti Kulhari, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Supriya Vinod, Anupam Kher, Tota Roy Chowdhury Direction: Madhur Bhandarkar FOR almost two decades now, Madhur Bhandarkar has basically flashed the same trumpcard. He picks cues from life to create characters that are often tantalisingly close to real people. From supermodels to filmstars, and from goons to tycoons, Madhur’s films have literally been a guessthe-celeb trip for viewers. Indu Sarkar does not leave anything to guesswork. The film is set during the Emergency era. Although Madhur avoids naming Indira Gandhi, who was the architect of Emergency, the Congress leader does make a fleeting appearance (played by actress Supriya Vinod), her bobbed hairdo with stylish white streak very much in place. For added effect there is Neil Nitin Mukesh, referred here simply as Chief. He cocks his head sideways all the time, to underline the fact that he was assigned the job of playing Sanjay Gandhi. All of it looked like a neat package in the promos.

Beyond all such packaging, though, Indu Sarkar is hardly an engaging drama. The reason is not hard to fathom, less than half an hour into the film.

Almost every Madhur Bhandarkar film tells the same story. It is the story of a woman who will be made to suffer if she seeks her place in a man’s world, even as exhaustive moral science lesson is driven home by the plot. The woman in question shifts avatar, from bar dancer to corporate honcho to Page 3 hack to supermodel and Bollywood heroine. But the melodrama underlining their woes would seem cloned from one screenplay onto other.

Indu Sarkar is no different. This time, Madhur’s heroine starts off as the orphan Indu. A poet at heart, Indu is married to government officer Naveen Sarkar and settles for life as a homemaker. The era is mid-seventies and Emergency has been declared. During this time, Indu rescues and brings home two slum children, intending to give them shelter. But the parents of the kids have been gunned down by cops, so Naveen refuses to take them

in. The incident triggers off realisation in India, about Emergency, and she is about to be drawn into a political maze bigger than she would ever have imagined. Indu Sarkar is too formulaic. If the film departs from Madhur’s earlier solo heroine projects, it is in the fact that he has chosen to cast a non-star as protagonist. Kirti Kulhari gets her biggest role yet but manages to leave only a middling impact. The one who has been grabbing the eyeballs is Neil Nitin Mukesh, but applauds coming his way seem more thanks to his make-up artists than the actor himself. Most of the cast suffers from half-baked roles. The film itself fumbles to score a single engaging moment. That’s ironic, because Indu Sarkar could have been one hell of an explosion.

Worth few compliments Mubarakan Cast: Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz, Athiya Shetty Direction: Anees Bazmee MUBARAKAN reminds you of a sort of masala humour that went out of fashion a while back. You realise why if you are aware who directed the film.

Anees Bazmee used to be counted among Bollywood’s slapstick sultans over a decade ago, when stuff like No

Entry and Welcome were a rage. Trends have changed. Clearly, Bazmee has not kept pace. Mubarakan is obviously meant to serve a dual purpose. The film aims at generating easy cash for the moneybags that bankrolled the project, by reaching out to the masses. Secondly, it is meant to be an urgent shove for Arjun Kapoor’s career as a commercial star. So the young actor gets to play out a double role, with his ageless uncle Anil Kapoor essaying an important side show, plus a couple of glamgirls thrown in as pretty props.

Bazmee tries setting up a comedy of errors. Arjun plays Karan and Charan.

Karan loves with Sweety (Illeana D’Cruz) while Charan loves Binkle (Athiya Shetty).

Thanks to uncle Kartar’s (Anil Kapoor) bungling, the two guys find their marriages fixed to the other girl. Rest if the film is about how things get sorted out. Mindless humour can often have hilarious outcome if it is smartly executed. Mubarakan stumbles at the script stage. The mediocre treatment does not make things funnier either.

— Vinayak Chakravorty

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Christopher Nolan didn’t Kylie Jenner gets bust allow chairs, water measured every week bottles on Dunkirk set

Mark Rylance says that he and his co-stars Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles and

Tom Hardy were not allowed chairs and water bottles on the set of Dunkirk.

Rylance says Nolan has various idiosyncrasies as a director. “He’s very particular about using everything real in front of the camera, so there were a lot of old techniques used in this film to make it look real,” said Rylance.

“He does things like he doesn’t like having chairs on set for actors or bottles of water, he’s very particular,” he further added.

Reality TV personality Kylie Jenner reportedly gets her bust measured every week.

A source told Heat magazine that the 19-year-old reality TV star, who is alleged to have undergone three breast operations in the past, is very proud of her assets, and monitors them closely to ensure they are always looking their best, reports metro.co.uk.

“Kylie knows they’re one of her best assets, so she takes special care of them. She has them measured every week for any difference in size or sag, and is immediately at her surgeons if there’s something out of place,” said the source. The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star is said to spend $250,000 a year on keeping her breasts perky.

The source added: “Kylie doesn’t care about the cost, she only

Angelina Jolie under fire for cruel casting game

Angelina Jolie’s recent interview in a magazine revealed some details about a casting game that

has outraged people.

Jolie is currently set to release her new directorial project with Netflix titled First They Killed My Father, an adaptation of a personal account by human rights activist, Long Ung, of her experiences as a child in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge years.

The article states that Jolie “looked at orphanages, circuses, and slum schools, seeking children, who had experienced hardship” to play Ung, but that the casting directors devised a cruel game to pick the child actor.

They kept money on a table, asking the child to think of a reason she could use the money for, and then to snatch it away. “Srey Moch [the girl chosen for the part] was the only child who stared at the money for a long time. When she was forced to give it back, she was overwhelmed with emotion. She later revealed that her grandfather had died, and they didn’t have enough money for a nice funeral.”

Benedict Cumberbatch misses doing radio show ‘Cabin Pressure’ Actor Benedict Cumberbatch said he had a good time when he appeared on the Radio 4 sitcom “Cabin Pressure” and he missed the show now.

The 41-year-old actor said the spontaneity of the show, that followed the everyday life of a small air crew, was what kept him and his co-stars on their toes, reported DigitalSpy. “It was really good fun. I miss it.

We’d come in on the day it was all a day’s work, the whole thing we’d probably get the script a week before but I don’t think, other than Roger Allam (co-star), any of us had really ever read it properly until we were all sat round the table together. And it was such good fun, really good fun,” Cumberbatch said.

The “Sherlock” star essayed the

role of Captain Martin Crieff, who loved flying but was bad at his job and was not paid for it.

cares about the results and she’s very happy. Her breasts are slowly but surely expanding and they look completely natural.”

She also reportedly spends almost $10,000 a month on laser treatments to keep her skin looking smooth.

The source said: “She has regular laser treatments with her dermatologist to remove stretch marks, veins, or wrinkly tissue.

The laser treatments are very pricey and something that most people do once every few months. But Kylie has it done every week she spends nearly 10 grand a month.”

‘Big Little Lies’ was emotionally draining for Nicole Kidman Actress Nicole Kidman says she found filming TV show “Big Little Lies” to be emotionally draining.

The 50-year-old had a tough time returning to her home life with husband Keith Urban and their two children Sunday and Faith after some gruelling days on the set of the dark comedy-drama miniseries, reports “Because we were shooting for so long... I think the duration of (the production) slowly started to seep in,” Kidman told etonline.com.

“Normally I can step back into my family life in a very easy way. I mean, not always, but you know, usually. I’ve been working a long time now. But it was hard,” she added.

Daniel Craig’s return as James Bond is a ‘done deal’ Daniel Craig is set to reprise his role as James Bond in the upcoming 007 movie, according to New York Times. After years of speculation, a formal announcement was made this week, confirming that the untiled Bond 25 movie would release on November 8 2019.

Eon Productions, the Londonbased company that oversees all things 007, and Metro-GoldwynMayer (MGM), which holds rights to the franchise, said details about a distribution partner, international release dates and the film’s cast and director would be announced “at a later date”.

However, according to two people briefed on the matter, “Mr Craig’s return is a done deal” in at least one more film in the

popular franchise.

In an interview to a British magazine, Craig, 49, had earlier

said that “I’d rather slash my wrists” than return as James Bond.

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1 - 7 August, 2017

Rationing forces Vatican to turn off fountains THE Vatican has turned off around 100 fountains, including two Baroque masterpieces in St Peter’s Square, due to a prolonged drought starving Rome of water. Suffocating summer heat, coupled with two years of belowaverage rainfall, has forced the Italian capital to close drinking fountains and consider water rationing. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said it was the first time authorities in the spiritual home of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics could remember being forced to turn off the fountains. Standing in St Peters Square, where two fountains’ by 17thcentury sculptors Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini stood dry, Burke said the Vatican wanted to help. “This is the Vatican’s way of living solidarity with Rome, trying to help Rome get through this crisis,” he said. All 100 of the Vatican’s fountains will be turned off gradually over the coming days. Rome is gasping after 72 per cent less rain than normal fell in July, according to Sky Italia’s weather TV channel. There was 74 per cent less than normal in June, and a 56 percent reduction from the long-term average across March, April and May. Caring for the planet and its resources is an important issue for Pope Francis, who demanded swift action by world leaders in the first ever papal document dedicated to the environment. “This decision is very much in line with the pope’s thinking on ecology: you can’t waste and sometimes you have to be willing to make a sacrifice,” Burke said.

More than a million residents of Rome are facing water rationing for up to eight hours a day as the prolonged heatwave that has ravaged southern Europe takes its toll. Dairy farmers and those growing olives, tomatoes and wine grapes are among the most affected.

REAL-LIFE RAPUNZEL A RUSSIAN woman who stopped cutting her hair for a bet has turned into a real-life Rapunzel after growing it out for 14 years. Daria Gubanova’s amazing head of thick brunette hair now comes down almost to her ankles. And the 27-year-old, who lives in Barnaul in south-central Russia’s Altai Krai region, says she will not trim her impressive mane until it reaches her toes. Daria began growing her hair 14 years ago when a friend bet her that she could not grow her hair long enough to braid it. So she stopped visiting her hairdresser and began letting her hair go free. Now, she is hailed as a modern-day Rapunzel, thanks to her incredible look. Daria’s hair is now estimated to measure around six-foot-long. And she has gained herself an army of admirers who wish to follow in her footsteps boasting more than 218,000 followers on social media. Daria’s Instagram is now flooded with more than 600 photos of her enviable locks which have received plenty of praise from loyal fans.

ARE THESE THE MOST CREATIVE DADS EVER? PLENTY of mothers will agree that their husband’s can take an idle approach to caring for the children — but these dads have come up with some very creative ways of keeping the kids entertained. Mothers from around the world have shared hilarious snaps of their husband’s parenting efforts — and some of them are rather creative. These innovative fathers have come up with some ingenious ways to make sure they can stay as immobile as possible whilst looking after their little ones.

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UK honour killing claims Indian teen Make-up artist was dragged from shower, raped and had her throat slit because she was dating an Arab AN INDIAN Muslim make-up artist was dragged from the shower and tasered before being raped and murdered in an alleged ‘honour killing’ because she fell in love with an Arab Muslim, a court has heard.

Celine Dookhran, 19, was found dead inside a £1.5 million (`12.60 crore) South London house after her friend managed to escape despite having her throat slit in the same attack. The court was told Dookhran had been in a relationship with an Arab Muslim and her family members did not approve because they were Indian Muslims. The survivor, who is in her twenties, claims she heard her friend scream as she was dragged from the shower and stunned with a taser before she herself was taken from her bed. The victims were bound with duct tape and rope and had socks shoved into their mouths before being rolled up into dust sheets and thrown into a vehicle by two men in balaclavas. They

were driven five miles to a house under renovation before Dookhran was raped and murdered — but the second woman fled. Mujahid Arshid, 33, appeared before magistrates in Wimbledon on Monday charged with the murder, rape, and kidnap of Dookhran and the attempted murder, rape and kidnap of the second woman.

Vincent Tappu, 28, was charged with the kidnap of both. Binita Roscoe, prosecuting, said two men in balaclavas stormed into

a house near Wimbledon where Dookhran was with her friend, who is in her twenties, last Wednesday morning. She said the pair grabbed the teenager

who was in the shower and the other woman who was in bed. A taser was used to subdue them and they were tied up before being bundled into a vehicle, she said. The court heard they were driven five miles to a location in Kingston where they were raped. Roscoe said, “The deceased was involved in a relationship with an Arab Muslim and the family members didn’t approve of this relationship because they are Indian Muslims.” Two men in balaclavas entered the property on July 19, the prosecutor said. She told the court, “Her face and mouth were covered in duct tape. Her hands were tied with cable ties and her

feet were tied with rope. “She believes a sock was placed in her mouth. She had heard the deceased who was in the shower screaming.” The surviving victim said a sock was forced into her mouth and the kidnappers used a Taser to subdue both her and Dookhran before they were rolled in dustsheets and bundled into a vehicle, said Roscoe. Dookhran was the eldest of three children and born in Wandsworth in 1996.

Her passion was make-up and her nearly 3,500 tweets are packed with advice on using cosmetics — she also did the makeup for an A-Level film made at sixth form. In her last message, posted a week before her death, she wrote, “Alhamdulilah for everything that’s all I can say” and she also liked a joke about finishing work on the eve of her murder. She also posted messages when she passed her driving test in 2015 and would also tweet about her faith. During Ramadan she wrote, “Please tell me why I’m casually sitting in Costa during my lunch break whilst fasting.”

Art group covers up nude figure near school A WOODEN sculpture of a naked man outside a German primary school has been covered up so it does not distract local pupils.

The statue, entitled Sun Worshipper by sculptor Walter Busch, is part of a special exhibition by a local art club in the city of Hof, Bavaria. But its clearly visible penis and backside proved was attracting a little too much attention from giggling children at the nearby Evangelical School Hof. School board member Andre Adams complained: “The primary schoolchildren spent their break standing at the school fence staring at the naked figure.” An emergency meeting between the art club and the primary school was brokered to discuss the naked statue. Eventually, both parties agreed to a compromise. The statue would be covered up on school days with tarpaulin and uncovered again over the weekend.

However, the regular dressing and undressing of the statue is taking its toll on the wooden structure. The Sun Worshipper has already had to be sent back to the artist’s workshop once for a refurbishment.

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International volunteers set up 1st LGBT battalion to take on Caliphate, vow revenge for gay killings

A rainbow of coalition against ISIS KURDISH forces fighting ISIS have formed the first LGBT fighting unit to fight the terror group in northern Syria. The Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army, or TQILA, exists to ‘smash the gender binary... and advance the sexual revolution’, according to an online statement announcing its creation. It continued, “The images of gay men being thrown off roofs and stoned to death by Daesh (ISIS) was something we could not idly watch.” The statement was released by the International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF), an anarchist movement made up of foreign fighters battling ISIS alongside a Kurdish militia known as the YPG. The IRPGF also shared a photo which claimed to show its LGBT fighters posing in ISIS’s de-facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, with a rainbow flag and banner reading ‘these faggots kill fascists’. Its statement introducing the TQILA, whose logo appears to be an AK47 on a pink background, condemned ‘extremist forces around the world for attacking the Queer community’. It said these groups have ‘murdered countless of our community members’ because ‘they are ill, sick and unnatural’. TQILA spokesperson Heval Rojhilat would not disclose the size of the newly formed unit, or how many of them would be LGBT. “Many of our comrades are within the LGBTQI community,” Rojhilat says. “We are already fighting in Raqqa,” He did say that if Raqqa falls, the unit would ‘fly TQILA’s flag, the IRPGF’s flag and the

rainbow flag’ in the city. ISIS’s A rainbow International volunteers set up 1st LGBT battalion to take on Caliphate, vow revenge for gay killings twisted courts have long since declared homosexuality to be a crime punishable by death. The terror group has released several photos and videos on its social media channels purporting to show blindfolded gay men being thrown from atop high buildings. If they survived, they are believed to have been stoned to death by the baying mob waiting below. ISIS are even reported to go through captured homosexuals’ contact books to find any other people they believe might be gay.

Taliban claims Russia supplied arms TALIBAN fighters have claimed that Russia is supplying them with weapons including snipers and heavy machine guns. America’s top general in Afghanistan said earlier this year that he was ‘not refuting’ reports Moscow was providing support, including weapons, to the militant group. Kremlin chiefs have previously denied trading with the Taliban. But new footage, obtained by CNN, appears to show fighters in possession of improved weaponry which the militants claim was supplied by Russian government sources. According to CNN, one Taliban faction says is received free weapons over the border from Tajikistan after they were supplied by ‘the Russians’.

Another Taliban offshoot said it had seized guns from the mainstream group and that those weapons had originally come from the Russians via Iran. The group’s deputy leader Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi told CNN, “The Russians are giving them these weapons to fight ISIS in Afghanistan, but they are using them against us too.” Russia did not

comment on the CNN reports but it has previously denied claims they are involved in trading with the Taliban. In April, General John Nicholson, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, asserted that Russia might be supplying the Taliban with weapons. He was asked by a reporter, “So you are not refuting that (Russia is) sending weapons?” And Nicholson replied, “Oh, no, I am not refuting that.” At the same time a senior U.S. military official,

speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that intelligence showed that Russia was providing monetary and weapons support to the Taliban, specifically machine guns. Just weeks earlier, General Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander who also heads the US military’s European Command, said Russia is ‘perhaps’ supplying the Taliban as they fight US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. He told

lawmakers he had seen Russian influence expand in multiple regions, including in Afghanistan. “I have seen the influence of Russia of late — an increased influence — in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the Taliban,” Scaparrotti told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He did not elaborate on what kinds of supplies might be headed to the Taliban or how direct Russia’s role might be.

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‘Bose would never allow Partition’ The acclaimed filmmaker feels Indian politics has sidelined Netaji Subhash Bose INTERVIEW TIGMANSHU DHULIA

by Anita Kaushik FILMMAKER Tigmanshu Dhulia makes no bones in declaring that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose has been sidelined by Indian history. “He would have taken away the limelight from the other leaders of the era. I am not undermining the others, though. I feel Jawaharlal Nehru was the Krishna of Indian politics, and Nehru, just like Krishna, is God and also a man. I respect him a lot. But Netaji was equally great, if not more. If Bose was alive, India would have been partitioned. The Muslims loved and respected him so much that Jinnah would seem weak in front of him,” says Dhulia. Bose has stirred Dhulia’s interest for an obvious reason lately.

His new film, Raag Desh, is

about the historical Red Fort Trials of 1945 that saw three Indian National Army officers being court-martialled for waging war against the crown of Britain. Dhulia says despite narrating an explosive aspect of history, the film is relevant and the youth of today will connect it. “Netaji is the hero of my film. A lot of young people don’t know about his contribution to Independence but they at least know his name.” Raag Desh has been cleared with U/A certification and Dhulia is relieved. “I was a little apprehensive about the censors. Raag Desh is a celebration of Independence and is a positive film. At present, people all around seem happy with negativity. At this rate, even gulab jamun will turn salty after some time! People look for negativity in a way that it seems they have a problem if they can’t find it,” he says, about the film Raag Desh featuring Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh and Mohit Marwah. The filmmaker is sarcastic about everyone in politics trying to own Netaji lately.

“Left, right, and centre — all political parties are saying Netaji belongs to them, without knowing much about his ideology and philosophy. Even I didn’t know much about Netaji before I started researching for the film. He was a secular person and ideal for today’s politics. He followed Swami Vivekananda, read the Bhagwad Gita and saw Hindustan as a nation comprising of all communities. He felt one should not disrespect others’ faith,” says the filmmaker. Dhulia is known for his acting skills, best recalled for his role in Gangs Of Wasseypur. He will next be seen in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer directed by Aanand L. Rai. When quizzed about it, the filmmaker-actor says: “Don’t ask this (laughs). Shah Rukh is such a big name, he will dwarf my film.”

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INTERVIEW BHUMI PEDNEKAR

by Anita Kaushik SHE grabbed eyeballs with her debut act in the 2015 film Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Two years later, Bhumi Pednekar is back to with her second release Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, opposite superstar Akshay Kumar. She has shed the 27 kilos she had to put on for her debut role of an overweight homemaker, and the glow of excitement is certainly showing on her face — she is thrilled to work opposite Akshay in her second film, after all. “I got along with Akshay sir really well. He is so down to earth, dedicated, and punctual. His behaviour towards everybody was the same, from the spot dada to the director to me. For a newcomer like me, to see someone as big as him be so grounded was inspiring,” says Bhumi. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, directed by Shree Narayan Singh, is the story of a newlywed rural couple that faces marital discord because the bride arrives at her in-laws’ place to discover the house has no toilet. The film is schedule to release on August 11. “The film is primarily a love story of Keshav and Jaya, a simple couple. The problem they face is small but it binds this beautiful love story. In this film, toilet becomes the villain. The writers and director have beautifully amalgamated a socially relevant subject. I hope the film paves way for a sense of change,” she says. Bhumi hastens to add that the script is not inspired by Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. “However, the film is our contribution towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts. When we go to America or Japan, the first thing that we notice is how clean the place is. Cleanliness is an important aspect of the growth of a nation,” she says. She elaborated: “Until a few years ago, nobody even spoke of cleanliness in India but now we normally see dustbins all around, which is such a big change. Earlier people used to throw things here and there but now even children stop parents from doing so.

Awareness is definitely happening.” Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, though, is about lack of awareness on sanitation in rural India.

Subject as these seem to have caught Bollywood’s attention lately. Bhumi’s new project apart, the recent Phullu and the upcoming Pad Man address about menstrual hygiene. Bhumi feels it is important a popular industry as Bollywood should take such message to the masses. “I have never gone without a bathroom, so to me the issue initially seemed superficial.

Over time, as I learnt how grave the situation is, I stopped solely blaming the government. People are to blame, too, for

their lack of knowledge. Our mindset has just not evolved. We are still stuck in the era when Sati was a custom. Even today, women are affected the most in a situation where homes don’t have toilets.” Mumbai-bred Bhumi admits taking extreme method approach for her role of a rural woman struggling to get her husband build a toilet in their joint family home. “For a particular scene where my character feels miserable because she doesn’t have access to a bathroom, I didn’t go to the loo for two days. I had to feel exactly how a woman must feel under such a circumstance.” Bhumi, of course, is known for her method acting skills. For her debut film Dum Laga Ke Haisha, she put on 27 kilos to play an overweight middle-class homemaker, whose obesity makes her an object of contempt by her husband. For Toilet..., of course, she had to get back into shape. “To gain 27 kilos for Dum Laga Ke Haisha, I ate just about everything that one normally should normally avoid. I did not face any serious health problems but my joints would ache and I would have bodyache. I started losing hair and my skin was badly affected. I made I lost weight in a healthy way over two years,” she recalls. Bhumi is among few outsiders who have made a mark lately in Bollywood, a domain that seems to

be fast becoming a hub for bloodline to thrive. Does she feel BTown is driven by nepotism? Has Bhumi, who started her career working with the casting team of Yash Raj Films, ever been a victim? “I have not faced nepotism. Look at my story — I was working behind the camera, don’t come from a film family and was picked for my debut film. There are the likes of Vaani Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, too. But the problem probably exists and I guess I am lucky,” she declares. Very few Actresses in Bollywood manage to cut a niche as Bhumi has done. In a short span of time, she has left her stamp more than just as an actor. She has become a role model, too, who stands for various comments through her roles. With her first film, she became a voice against bodyshaming. In her second, she is spreading awareness against the practice of open defecation, especially in rural India. With her third release, Shubh Mangal Savdhan, she will take a livelier turn. “In Shubh Mangal Savdhan, I play the role of a chirpy Delhi girl. I don’t want to play her like other Delhi girls, so I have experimented with the role physically and emotionally, especially the way she talks. It might click but it might also be a disaster. I will leave it to the audience,” she signs off.

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40 terror shops come under NIA lens in Kashmir

INVESTIGATIONS into the money trail coming in from Pakistan-based terror outfits to Kashmiri separatists to fuel violence in the Valley has gone back to the 90s with over a dozen properties, over a score cross-border traders and some 50 WhatsApp and social media groups coming under the scanner of central investigating agencies. According to a senior government official, a collective crackdown by agencies is going to have a long-term effect in the Valley in restoring peace as it has cut down the financial links of anti-social elements in Kashmir from their handlers in Pakistan. Both the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are separately investigating

cases of terror funding and subversive activities. While NIA has arrested seven Kashmiri separatist leaders, who were sent to 10-day judicial custody, ED arrested Shabir Shah — one of the founders of Kashmiri separatism, who was remanded to ED custody for seven days.

While probing these cases, security agencies have unearthed some faces of stonepelters, properties of separatist leaders that doesn’t match with their income and dirty transactions by Indo-Pak traders. “Kashmiri separatists have accumulated enough properties worth several crores in Kashmir and Delhi, but they will have a tough time explaining the source of their assets that is not in proportion to their

income,” said a senior MHA officer. Probe by NIA reveals that prime properties were bought by them even when they were under house arrest. Investigators have also unearthed the dubious role played by some Indian businessmen involved in crossborder trade. Over a hundred such traders are under scrutiny and NIA recently conducted raids in J&K, Haryana and Delhi, probing their role in money supply by terror organisations. this paper had earlier reported that traders under suspicion used to export goods by overinvoicing their bills and after receiving the money, they would route the funds to pro-freedom leaders for unrest in Kashmir.

Investigators believe the money pumped by terror outfits was

The bulletproof jugaad for CRPF New Delhi FOR CRPF personnel posted in the Valley, it is a matter of survival at any cost. With 47 battalions involved in counterterror operations in Kashmir alone, the CRPF faces a deficit of 400 bulletproof vehicles. And now, the force has opted for a desi jugaad. The mechanism consists of putting on a panel on both sides of the vehicle — a metal sheet on one side and wood on the other. A concrete mix is poured into the hollow portion, thus fixing the panel. The troopers then put different shapes and sizes of the panel on the inside and outside of the vehicles as per need. A mechanism CPRF DG RR Bhatnagar says ‘is working pretty well’.

He further says, “We have told our troopers to procure the material locally to safeguard themselves, who are otherwise exposed to risk in a conflict region.” The idea, however is not original to the CRPF. The jugaad has been inspired from Punjab Police who used similar tactics during the 1980s.

They used a bullet-proof tractor to plough down the fields where Sikh terrorists hid. While the tractor is exposed from all sides, Punjab Police held up a similar panel that acted like shields, giving protection from incessant firing. Sources said KPS Gill was one of the brains behind that jugaad. In Kashmir, the jugaad saved the lives of eight CRPF personnel during the June Pantha

Chowk terror attack when its bus was ambushed.

“Unfortunately, we lost one sub-inspector, but the lives of eight others were saved. The jugaad has its own limitation, with problem areas being the doors and corners of the vehicle, but it is largely said to provide protection,” said a senior officer

posted in the Valley. In Kashmir, around 60 per cent of the CRPF vehicles are bullet-proof.

Minister of state (MoS) Hansraj Gangaram Ahir informed Lok Sabha recently that 292 light bullet proof vehicles and 309 medium bullet proof vehicles are available with the units engaged in counter-terrorism operations in Kashmir. The shortage of bullet-proof vehicle was highlighted when SHO Feroz Ahmed and five J&K Police personnel were killed in an ambush in south Kashmir last month.

used keep the Valley burning for several decades. Sources claim to have identified several people involved in stone pelting, damaging public property and burning down schools.

Electronic evidences including chains of transaction establish links between separatist leaders and violent elements in the Valley were also uncovered.

Following detailed analysis of mobile phone locations, NIA has zeroed in on 48 youths, who orchestrated stone-pelting mobs to disrupt anti-terror operations in Kashmir. It has also identified over 5,000 stonepelters as part of its probe in

the terror-funding case, involving Hurriyat leaders. It is now probing links between stone pelters and separatists.

According to investigators, groups of violent men were mobilised through several WhatsApp and social media groups monitored and operated from Pakistan. The phone analysis established that though these people lived far away, they were present in the vicinity of anti-terror operations’ sites. The NIA has listed out the operations, with dates and locations, in a dossier, to establish the presence of these suspects.

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Cyber gangs steal images from social media and morph them as nudes to blackmail & extort money from users

YOUR FB PHOTO MAY BE USED ON PORN SITE BEWARE. Cyber extortionists are on the prowl and they may have an eye on your latest Facebook photographs. Criminals are demanding money to delete morphed pictures of social media users or are hacking into their accounts to fleece friends connected to them through these sites. A Mayur Vihar resident recently lost ‘20,000 to anonymous cyber crooks. The victim says that her profile photo from Facebook, in which she was standing on a beach, was copied, edited and a slideshow of her morphed nude images was put up on a porn site. The criminals contacted the victim and demanded money. But despite paying the amount, the pictures were not deleted. Experts say social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have also made it easy for cyber criminals to track and target high net worth individuals and their family members. An 18-yearold student from south Delhi was shocked to find a pornographic video online featuring her. The link was shared by an anonymous user on chat and he demanded money to delete it. Preliminary investigation revealed that her photograph was copied from a social media site and was later distorted to extort money. Cyber experts say that apart from blackmailing with morphed photos, other cases of financial fraud on social networking sites are also becoming rampant. A Noidabased woman has approached the police alleging that an anonymous hacker stole ‘15,000 from her relative by taking control of her Facebook page. “This week, I got a link and a message from another

Facebook user who said that my nude pictures are uploaded on the site. I got scared and clicked on the link but my account got hacked and the criminal got control of it,” said the victim in her complaint. Now, the hacker sent a message to all her friends on the site, asking for money. “As the criminal had access to my account, he started sending messages to all the contacts that I was in an emergency situation and need money for help. One relative also paid ‘15,000 through PayTM,” the woman explained. According to the police, previously jilted lovers or bitter acquaintances used such means for revenge, but now organised gangs commit these crimes as they consider them a source of easy money. Victims in such cases refrain from filing

complaints as they do not want to make the matter public. “A user needs to be very cautious while making personal data public. There are people waiting to misuse it in the web. Software are available that can help in manipulating the pictures and videos which may be further misused,” said a senior Delhi Police officer. “Many organised gangs are extorting money by scaring vulnerable users and once they get the money, they deactivate their social media account to avoid getting caught,” the officer added.

Many fall prey to extortion, in fear of social stigma and also victims are not keen to contact the police as the amount involved is often not too high. “While investigating a similar case of a Delhi girl, I started tracking an IP (internet protocol) address but the criminals were tech-savvy as they kept changing their IPs and locations and the profile of the victim was accessed from multiple location indicating a team was dedicatedly working to make money,” cyber crime expert Kislay Chaudhary said. Chaudhary says it is difficult for a user to contact an internet giant in getting such pictures, videos, pages or links deleted. this paper had reported that several Facebook profiles and pages are engaged in copying pictures of girls from the site only to misuse them. Such groups are morphing pictures with explicit content to get more views on their page and earn money. But no extortion angle was found. Last year, a foreign national contacted cyber security experts in India, complaining that an Indian youth had been blackmailing her with some

morphed pictures of hers and demanding $100 (‘6,779 approx) per month.

Investigators tracked the crook to Kurukshetra and found nearly 1,800 photographs on his mobile phone that he used to blackmail his targets. The man was eventually let free as the victim did not lodge an official complaint. During interrogation, the accused revealed that he used a free mobile application to morph the pictures and then employed them as a tool to fleece the victims.

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It’s best to go around and above blocks to achieve your goals rather than encounter them directly. You may feel oppressed by traditions and traditional people in the family if you allow them to interfere in your life. You need to find a healing outlet or release for your tension, anger and frustration or you may explode at the wrong time and wrong place. Don’t sweep problems and issues under the proverbial carpet but look at them and face them with courage. You learn from mistakes and grow as an individual. Be playful and in touch with your sense of humour.

Unexpected happenings and unpredictable events are on the cards this week! Visitors and communications from overseas surprise you. This is a good time to take a gamble or a quantum leap into unknown territory or explore a new work situation. You go through an important experience that gives you direction for the future.

A strange personal encounter can throw you off balance. You may take a brief spontaneous trip with a loved one to relax and get away from it all.

Beware of taking medicines or drugs without checking them with your physician.

You make breakthroughs in relationships and professional situations but need to consider what you give up in the process. View defeat or failure in a certain aspect from a higher perspective. Learn from past experience and get on with your life rather than repeat old patterns. Positive attitudes in personal relationships bring healing and love. Rescheduling plans and routines may be for the better. Beware of ego conflicts. You go to emotional heights and depths in relationships, difficult and easy situations in business, and negative and positive reactions from people, which give you a new perspective of life.

You resolve business and professional matters effortlessly with your old mastery and expertise this week. You are quick to respond to external influences and can be easily attracted and enthusiastic. However, these are not enduring and are without depth. There is a reunion of old friends, which takes you down memory lane and nostalgia. Avoid serious and heavy attitudes! Artistic and creative pastimes are elevating. Health and finances need watching. It’s time to breakthrough restrictions, addictions and emotional patterns as you are ripe and ready for major professional and personal changes.

Warm friendships and pleasurable moments make this a wonderful time for you. There is intense joy and perfect harmony in personal relationships this week! Your social life is enviable but tiring. Important professional and business meetings go smoothly. Be aware of dissipation and waste, as you tend to go over the top when sharing hospitality. A brief vacation with a loved one comes as a happy surprise.

You can be pedantic about details at the expense of larger issues. Mood swings and sensitive moments need to be watched with awareness.

You handle difficult and sensitive situations with prudence and care as they could easily go out of hand. You tend to be a perfectionist and don’t enjoy others interfering with your systems or area of activity. You function best as an individual learning through experience and playing the role of consultant and advisor to others. You play the role of the father figure, taking responsibility and care. You protect yourself emotionally and prefer to be in a meaningful relationship or rather be alone. Spending time in natural surroundings away from it all proves to be therapeutic. You can be creative with your hands.

Inception of new business projects or professional ventures is on the cards this week! A time of endings and beginnings can be exciting and rejuvenating! You are able to kick old habits like smoking and drinking and adopt a healthier lifestyle with more time for meditating and relaxing. A need for change in routines and schedules leads you to reassess situations, targets and responsibilities.

You also look at dark corners and cobwebs within the mind to uproot old ideas and judgments. Priorities need to be kept in mind as you meet new people.

Creative and professional plans are set to actualise and it is best to work towards them persistently. Your plans are now matching with divine plans and they have a magical quality of perfection and completion.

Success in business and love in relationships transforms your life and attitudes in the coming weeks. You achieve the rewards of your hard work as you have already established a foundation for success. This is a time of inner maturity and growth as you realise your truths and accept yourself as you are. There is a protective light around you as you move through experiences.

Things happen swiftly and you need to be ready with quick decisions or else, opportunities pass you by.

Energy is of high velocity and you can actively pursue and achieve your goals, which are closer than you think. Important visitors, messages and communications from overseas can be expected. You are bold and forthright in voicing your opinions and can get into much trouble because of it. You tend to apply too much force suddenly, which is a flash in the pan, it’s better to take one steady step at a time to climb the ladder of success.

Mental conflicts are finally resolved this week as you make a compromise and opt for peace at work and harmony at home.

Intellectual differences should be treated lightly and discussed rationally or arguments and quarrels can ensue endlessly. You remain individualistic and independent through changes that are effected peacefully. A balanced perspective and positive attitude leads to closer relationships and supportive business partnerships. You receive a lot of love and compassion from family and friends. Health problems can be resolved quickly and surgery may be the right answer to a particular problem.

Exciting business and professional opportunities come from nowhere and prove to be lucrative.

Breakthroughs in tough professional situations and turnarounds in personal relationships are possible now. It’s best to take advantage of this lucky period, to make important changes or new beginnings in any area of life. Awareness and alacrity are needed to move towards positive relationships and progressive opportunities as things happen quickly. Love, romance, celebration and family reunions can keep you happy and busy.

You may feel defeated by certain situations at work or at home as you are unable to accept them or change them. Rather than getting frustrated and pushing situations and people towards change, allow space and time to transform them. It’s best to ignore gossip or slander and avoid getting involved in a controversy. Be prudent and avoid a negative person who can instigate a confrontation at work. This is not a good time to take chances or indulge in speculation. Health and finances must be watched. You spend a happy and relaxing time in natural surroundings with friends that rejuvenates you.

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1 - 7 August, 2017

Technology Twitter adds zero users users in Q2; now has 328 million monthly active users

San Francisco Twitter has added zero users since first quarter, posting $574 million in revenue in the second quarter this year which is a decrease of five percent YoY (year-on-year).

Twitter now has 328 million monthly active users (MAUs) — the same number it reported in the first quarter of 2017.

On the contrary, Facebook has over two billion users, WhatsApp now reports over one billion daily users and Instagram ‘Stories‘ has over 250 million users.

The not-so-good results brought Twitter‘s stock down almost 12 percent in trading on Thursday.

“Monthly active usage (MAU) increased five percent YoY and daily active usage (DAU)

increased 12 percent YoY, marking the third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth,” said Jack Dorsey, Twitter`s CEO, in a statement.

Last quarter, the micro-blogging platform had daily active usage growth of 14 percent YoY. Twitter‘s net income in the second quarter was $56 million, or eight cents per share. “We`re strengthening our execution, which gives us confidence that our product improvements will continue to contribute to meaningful increases in daily active usage,” Dorsey added.

“We continue to invest in revenue products and services that leverage Twitter`s unique value proposition and are

Internet grows to over 330 million domain name registrations

Bengaluru The Internet has grown to 330.6 million domain name registrations in the first quarter of 2017 as nearly 1.3 million registrations were added in the first quarter this year.

According to VeriSign, a global leader in domain names and internet security, 1.3 million domain name registrations across the globe translates to a growth rate of 0.4 percent over the fourth quarter of 2016.

Domain name registrations have also grown by 11.8 million (3.7 percent ) year-over-year.

“The .com and .net TLDs, together, had about 143.6 million

domain name registrations in the domain name base in the first quarter of 2017. This represents a 0.8 percent increase year-overyear,” the firm said in a statement on Thursday.

“As of March 31, 2017, the .com domain name base totalled 128.4 million domain name registrations while the .net domain name base totalled 15.2 million domain name registrations,” it added.

New .com and .net domain name registrations totalled 9.5 million during the first quarter of 2017 while the numbers in the first quarter of 2016 totaled 10 million.

delivering more value to advertisers than ever, with double-digit growth in daily active usage, improvements in ad relevance and better pricing,” added Anthony Noto, Twitter`s COO. Twitter was now more focused towards video streaming on its platform.

“We`re proud of our strong growth in video, which remained our largest and fastest growing ad format, and we received a positive response from advertisers around the live premium video content debuted at Twitter`s Digital Content NewFronts,” Noto said.

Despite stalled user growth, Twitter was now exploring new revenue streams and ways of innovation.

When it comes to “Promoted” tweets, the number of brands using Twitter for advertising has been on the rise.

Globally, in the first quarter of 2017, Twitter streamed more than 800 hours of live premium video from content partners across over 450 events, reaching 45 million unique viewers — an increase of 31 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016.

Apple paid Nokia $2 billion as part lawsuit settlement

San Francisco A After a patents row that escalated between Nokia and Apple in December last year and was settled in May, Nokia has received a $2 billion upfront cash payment from Cupertinobased tech company as part of the settlement terms.

According to a report in TechCrunch on Friday, Nokia will not get $2 billion every quarter — this was nonrecurring catch-up revenue and Nokia hasn‘t said what it plans to do with all this cash.

The spat began last year when the tech giants locked horns over patents, with Apple filing an anti-trust lawsuit against third-party companies Patent Assertion

Entities (PAEs) that act on Nokia‘s behalf, and the Finland-based firm suing Apple directly.

According to the Cupertinobased tech giant, Nokia was conspiring with PAEs patent assertion entities (Acacia Research and Conversant Property Management) in an “illegal patent transfer scheme” to wring money out of Apple because Nokia`s cell phone business was failing.

Nokia also filed a suit directly against Apple in Europe and the US, claiming the company was still infringing on Nokia patents.

The lawsuit covered 32 patents, including display, user interface, software and video-coding technology.

Google withdraws its ‘Instant’ search feature Adding to the series of company flagships reportedly on the verge of being terminated like Adobe Flash, Google announced that it will wipe out Instant, one of the fastest features of the search engine. A feature that rolled out in 2010, Instant was considered to be the ‘future of search’ that would allow users to save time as it showed the results of predicted search terms even before one finished typing or pressed the Enter key.

However, with this move, the tech giant aims to make search more fluid on all devices, reports The Independent. “We launched Google Instant back in 2010 with the goal to provide users with the information they need as quickly as possible, even as they typed their searches on desktop devices. Since then, many more of our searches happen on mobile, with very different input and interaction and screen constraints. With this in mind, we have decided to remove Google Instant, so we

can focus on ways to make Search even faster and more fluid on all devices,” the Independent quoted Google telling Search Engine Land.

While suggestions will continue to appear under the search bar while typing itself, results will be shown only when the user either

completes typing what he/she is looking for, or chooses an option from the predictions that appear on the screen.

It is believed that at the time of the launch, users could save up to 11 hours with every passing second, thus aiding the timesaving drive.

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1 - 7 August, 2017

Sydney cops find bomb Locals build wall to keep meant to blow up a plane migrants out in France

COUNTER terrorism police stormed four Sydney properties and arrested four men on Saturday after being alerted to an alleged plot to bring down an airplane with a ‘bomb’. About 40 heavily-armed police officers swarmed a terrace home in Surry Hills at 4 pm before raiding properties in Lakemba, Punchbowl and Wiley Park in Sydney’s west. The searches are part of an ongoing investigation into an ‘aviation threat’, according to The Daily Telegraph. An ‘explosive device’ was discovered at the Surry Hills property and deactivated by a bomb squad that was

called to the scene, according to 7 News. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has told the public not to panic and to watch out for any suspicious activity.

Shouting and screaming could be heard as one man with a towel draped over his head was led from the Surry Hills home by police, Nine News reported.

The man was arrested an appeared to be distressed and bleeding from the head as he walked to a waiting ambulance.

He can be heard saying ‘they bashed me’. When asked by who, he answered ‘police’.

When asked why he was being arrested, the man mumbled, “I

don’t know nothing.” Residents living near the Surry Hills home, just metres from the Redfern Mosque, were evacuated while the bomb squad worked to remove the ‘explosive device’.

A police spokesman stated, “This activity relates to an ongoing investigation. The safety of the community and police members are the primary consideration during this activity.” Neighbour Kate Harrison reported hearing shouting coming from a yard close by, begging for someone to call the police. Relatives of two men arrested in the counterterror operation have spoken out, saying they ‘love Australia’.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull released a statement on the raids, confirming the involvement of the Australian Federal Police, ASIO and NSW Police. “These operations are designed to disrupt and prevent plans to undertake terrorist attacks in Australia,” the statement said. “My number one priority, and that of my government is the safety and security of all Australians. The public should be reassured that our security and intelligence agencies are working tirelessly to keep us safe.”

RESIDENTS of a French town have built a concrete wall around an abandoned hotel to stop it being turned into a migrant shelter. Worried locals in the town of Séméac, in the HautesPyrénées, constructed the 6ft high, 65ft long barricade on Monday morning.

Laurent Teixeira runs local group Collectif Semeac, which built the wall, and says the town is not against welcoming those in need. However, Teixeira told Le Fiagro that he does oppose putting the migrant shelter in the middle of a residential area.

He also blasted the ‘opacity’ of the project, saying it was carried out without consulting locals. He said, “Nothing is foreseen for the daily life of these migrants and public structures, such as canteens and schools, are undersized.”

Semeac, which is in southern France, has a population of around 5,000 people. The hotel can be used to house a

maximum of 85. The Formule 1 hotel, which was owned by the AccorHotels group, is one of 61 properties to be bought with taxpayer money in order to house migrants. The keys

are officially scheduled to be handed over on Wednesday morning, though it is unclear if this will now take place. More than 1,10,00 migrants have come to Europe so far in 2017 according to borders agency Frontex, with the vast majority of those landing in Italy. Italy has begged their European counterparts for help with the crisis, saying other countries must do more to alleviate the burden.

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1 - 7 August, 2017

Pakistan responsible for turmoil in Afghanistan, not supporting US against Taliban: US defence expert New York Pakistan is responsible for the turmoil in Afghanistan and is not helping the United States at all in countering the threat of the Taliban, said a retired US Air Force officer and defence expert.

In an interview given to Fox News on a day when President Donald Trump visited the Pentagon for a security briefing on steps being taken to counter the ISIS and the Taliban, Retired US Air Force Lieutenant General and military analyst Thomas G. McInerney squarely held Pakistan responsible for the stalemated situation in Afghanistan.

When pointedly asked by the Fox News presenter as to why the United States has been achieving success in Syria and Iraq and not in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. (Retired) McInerney said, “One word, Pakistan, Pakistan for the last almost 16 years, has been supporting the Taliban.

When they (Pakistan) said, when (President) George Bush said, ‘you are either with us or against us, they (Pakistan) said

they are with us … Well, they have not been with us and we have to acknowledge that.” Lt. Gen.McInerney further said, “There are nine major cities in Balochistan that are raising money, supporting them (the

terrorists) and recruiting, as well as their training areas. We have a major problem, because in the non-fighting season, in the winter time, they (terrorists) retreat back into into Pakistan.”

When asked why Washington continues to support Pakistan, and in fact be Islamabad’s pay masters as regards funding the fight against terror groups and extend support for neutralizing a real problem, Lt. Gen. McInerney cited two reasons: “The first being that Pakistan does not want a strong Afghanistan, where say India or others start working with them (Afghanistan) and outflank the Pakistanis. They are definitely afraid of that, and second, there is the PakistanChina economic corridor that moves into the Middle East through Afghanistan.”

India is world’s third-biggest beef exporter

United Nations India is the world’s third-biggest exporter of beef and is projected to hold on to that position over the next decade, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD).

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026 report released here this week, said that India exported 1.56 million tonnes of beef last year and was expected to maintain “its position as the third-largest beef exporter, accounting for 16 per cent of global exports in 2026” by exporting 1.93 tonnes that year.

The type of beef exported was not specified, but the meat exported appeared to be mostly from buffaloes as the report specified the animal for imports

by Myanmar from India.

According to the OECD database, India imported 363,000 tonnes of beef last year and the amount was projected to stay the same over the decade. The total world beef exports in 2016 was 10.95 million tonnes and was expected to increase to 12.43 million tonnes by 2026, according to the FAO. The Outlook report ranked Brazil as the world’s top beef exporter, followed by Australia.

Lt. Gen. McInerney said there is a need for the United States to use its air power to target terrorist training areas in Pakistan, and added that there was also a need to take care of Pakistan first before deciding whether more American troops needed to be deployed in Afghanistan.

He further said that China is supporting Pakistan due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Last month, Defense Secretary James Mattis had said that the United States and its allies “are not winning” (the war) in Afghanistan.

In February, Army General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, had said that more troops were needed as outside powers have increased their meddling in Afghanistan, making it tougher for the US-backed forces in Kabul to control the situation.

About 8,400 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan in a train-and-assist capacity.

China mall offers “man pod” havens for husbands wary of shopping

Shanghai At a Shanghai mall, rows of “man pods” equipped with video games are proving a big hit, providing a refuge for hundreds of weary husbands and boyfriends as their other halves shop until they drop.

The first pods were launched at the Global Harbor shopping mall in Shanghai in June, and since then over 1,000 men have used the facilities, according to Ruwo Smart Technology, the company behind the scheme.

“Man pod” users can recline in a chair with a large screen and play video games while enclosed behind clear glass walls that shut out the bustle of other shoppers.

“I think this idea is pretty good because nowadays many boys like me are not willing to go

shopping with their girlfriends,” said Yao Lei, a 26-year old man using one of the new booths on Saturday.

With retail spending increasing another 10 percent in the second quarter of 2017, there could be huge demand for such facilities and the firm said it plans to expand the service to other shopping malls in the future.

“We found in most malls men and women go shopping together but men cannot accept spending a long time shopping,” said Zhao Wei, an operator of one of the pods. “Sometimes they’ll even start having arguments. So we think in this situation, we can have a product that gives a man something to do and the girls can go shopping at ease.”

In costly Silicon Valley, Facebook employee lives in car San Francisco Unable to afford an apartment in Silicon Valley, a contractor working for Facebook is being forced to live out of her car.

According to a report in Daily Mail, Parsha, who has earned a sobriquet ‘Pinky’ for her pink hair, pink car and pink dog, is already burdened with student loans and medical bills.

“I tell people all the time, stop looking at what somebody got and what you see on the outside,” ‘Pinky’ Parsha was quoted as saying.

According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in northern California neighbourhood is over $2,300 a month -- which Parsha, who has two children, cannot afford.

So she lives in a car and has not yet divulged to her co-workers about her condition, fearing she may be looked down upon at her workplace. “They would be shocked that I’m going through that because they would be like ‘I see you smiling at work, you appear to be happy. You look normal, you look clean’,” Parsha said. But now she plans to make her living condition public, hoping to stir a debate about the high rents in the Bay area neighbourhood. “I think that companies need to look at the salaries, are we paying employees enough to survive?”

According to Facebook, the

company “understands and recognises the burdens a higher cost of living has on the less prosperous part of the community”. “Facebook is committed to being active and

and equitable work environment for all of its employees, including contractors.

“The minimum salary at Facebook is $15 an hour (which includes third party contractors),

responsible neighbours by supporting the communities near Menlo Park headquarters,” a Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying.

According to the report, Facebook claims to have invested an initial $20 million contribution to community groups, philanthropies and companies in an effort over the next few months and years to grow their regional impact.

When asked about Parsha’s living conditions, Facebook said that Parsha was not a direct employee, but worked for a thirdparty contractor affiliated with the social media company.

But the company’s representative added that Facebook strives to create a fair

and the company has instituted better conditions for contractors, including 15 days’ off, paid vacation and a new child care benefit of $4,000,” the report noted.

But Parsha said she has been working with Facebook for just two months and has already begun looking for a second job in order to help pay the bills.

She also runs a non-profit organisation called “Love n Me” that aims at empowering women and girls to pursue a successful life.

Parsha had undergone abuse and depression in past but she bounced back and pursued higher education and completed her Master’s degree in Counselling.

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1 - 7 August, 2017

Declassified files reveal Pakistan stonewalled UK in Indian diplomat’s 1984 murder London Three suspects in the February 1984 murder of Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre had fled to Pakistan but Islamabad repeatedly denied their presence or cited difficulties in tracing them to British authorities seeking their extradition, newly declassified files show.

Posted in India’s consulate in Birmingham, Mhatre, 48, was kidnapped by elements owing allegiance to a Kashmir-based militant group on February 3 and body was found in nearby Leicestershire two days later.

Three people were convicted and jailed in Britain.

Documents released by Britain’s national archives reveal that the West Midlands police had provided locations of the three suspects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but officials in Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs (MFA) stonewalled UK efforts to apprehend them.

In August 1984, Britain requested the Pakistan government, then headed by Gen Zia-ul-Haq, to initiate extradition proceedings against the three. The documents state that the government agreed to the request “should it be established that the accused are in

Pakistan”.

British ambassador Richard Fyjis-Walker wrote to the foreign office on January 17, 1985: “(Pakistan’s additional foreign

In another dispatch to London on March 4, 1985, Fyjis-Walker wrote: “Dr Haider, on knowing that I was about to raise the subject, rehearsed me to the

secretary for European affairs) Dr Haider told me today that President Zia has accepted the MFA’s recommendation that extradition proceedings should be started.

“However, the first step was to establish whether the three men are in Pakistan. This involved police action which was being initiated. Only if it is established that the men were in the country could the lengthy extradition process start.

“I am not sure how seriously the Pakistanis will try to find and apprehend the men.”

difficulties the Pakistan authorities were having in finding the men.

“The government did not know if they were in Pakistan at all. The indications we had given the government of the whereabouts of the men might or might not be the result of disinformation.

“I again offered our help in tracing the men, saying that we would indeed be grateful for confirmation of whether or not the information we had passed on to the Pakistan government about the whereabouts of the men turned out to be true or false. It

UK channel to air Diana’s recordings on her failed marriage London A British television channel is broadcasting a new documentary on Princess Diana using controversial videotapes in which she candidly discussed her marital problems and her

strained relationship with the royal family.The recordings of Diana speaking to her public speaking coach, Peter Settelen, in the early 1990s included her description of how Queen Elizabeth II reacted when she asked the monarch for advice about her failing marriage with Prince Charles.

“So I went to the top lady, sobbing. And I said ‘What do I do? I’m coming to you, what do I do?’ And she said ‘I don’t know what you should do,’” Diana said.

“And that was it. And that was help.”

The recordings also show Diana talking about falling “deeply in love” with a man widely believed

to be her protection officer, Barry Mannakee, as well as Charles’ attempts to woo her during a barbeque in 1979 when she was 18.The former Princess of Wales, who was killed in a car crash in Paris 20 years ago, had

recorded the tapes with Peter Settelen at Kensington Palace in 1992-1993.They are now set to be aired for the first time as part of a documentary on the UK’s Channel 4 on August 6.

In the recordings, she admits falling in love with her bodyguard Barry Mannakee and also discloses her conversations with Charles over his affair with then Camilla Parker-Bowles.

“When I was 24 or 25 I fell deeply in love with someone who worked in this environment. I was quite happy to give all this up..just to go off and live. He [Mannakee] kept saying he thought it a good idea too,” she is heard saying in excerpts

published in ‘The Sunday Times’.“I just needed someone to tell me I was all right and he mentally kicked me outside and made me go and do my engagements because I used to scream in this room [in Kensington Palace]. I should never have played with fire and I did and I got burnt,” she says.Diana, however, denies that it was a sexual relationship and says that “it was all found out and he was chucked out and then he was killed [in a motorbike accident] and that was the biggest blow of my life”.

“He was the greatest friend I’ve ever had. That was a real killer,” she says.In the tapes, she also describes the blunt response by Charles on being confronted about his affair as, “I refuse to be the only Prince of Wales who never had a mistress”.

Diana’s brother Earl Spencer has urged Channel 4 to refrain from airing extracts from the tapes next week as they would cause distress to Diana’s sons Princes William and Harry.

Settelen had been hired to help Diana prepare to publicly present her account of events after the couple separated in 1991.

Although much of the footage is of voice lessons, at times she answered personal questions.

The Channel 4 extracts are taken from seven tapes but there were believed to be 12 in all, with five still missing.

was presumably very easy to check whether they had been at the addresses we had provided...we shall need to keep up the pressure on the Pakistanis.”

The envoy repeated his pessimism to London on March 12, 1985: “I repeated our offer of a visit by the West Midlands police. She (Dr Haider) said Pakistan authorities were aware of this...I am not sure when I shall hear anything more or how satisfactory it will be.”

According to a “teleletter” to London by official SG Falconer on May 30, 1985, MFA official Shafkat Saeed had virtually admitted to him that PoK is not part of Pakistan: “He repeated that the problem was that the three suspects were in Kashmir, which legally is not part of Pakistan.

“Negotiations were proceeding with the Kashmir government and we could be assured that if the Pakistani authorities could lay their hands legally on the three suspects, they would immediately be arrested and arrangements made for their return to the UK. He implied clearly, however, that this was a

big ‘if’.” The declassified file includes references to documents that have not been released as well as documents with some parts redacted. The file includes a letter to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by Avinash Mhatre, the brother of the slain diplomat, and her response. A mention of the case in the Lok Sabha was favourably reported by the British high commission in New Delhi.

MS Runacres, an official posted in New Delhi, wrote to London on March 25, 1985: “I thought you might be interested to know of a crumb of Parliamentary comfort which was tossed our way in the Lok Sabha last week during a debate about the murder of the Soviet diplomat in Delhi.”

“A DMKP (Dalit Mazdoor Kisan Party) MP called Mohunta made a very worthwhile reference to the Mhatre case. He pointed out that ‘the British police were very quick in apprehending the murderers of Mr Ravindra Mhatre…However, the Indian security forces had failed to solve the cases relating to murders of foreign diplomats in India in the recent past’. Well done Mr Mohunta!”

The hidden issue of women ‘raping’ men in Britain London Men forcing women to have sex is called rape, but experts have turned their attention to the hidden issue of women forcing men in the United Kingdom to have sex, coining a term to describe it — “forced to penetrate”. New research at Lancaster University reveals that many men have been forced by women to penetrate them using various strategies, including blackmail, threats, lies, verbal abuse, spreading rumours or threats to end relationships.

Considered a first of its kind research examining the extent of men who have been “forced to penetrate” women, the university said the strategies also extended to the use of force, such as pinning down with bodyweight or having a weapon.The least frequent strategy was the administration of drugs nonconsensually, the research based on experiences of men said.“Rape” was the most frequent label used to describe the ordeal, despite the law not recognising such cases in this way. “Sex” was used least frequently.Siobhan Weare of the Lancaster University Law School said: “The term ‘forced to penetrate’ has been coined for these cases because, while they involve non-consensual penile penetration, they do not fall under the offence of rape.“The offence of rape can only be committed by men due to the requirement of penile penetration of the victim. In ‘forced to

penetrate’ cases, the offender is the one being penetrated by a non-consenting victim.”

Weare added that said the findings provided compelling evidence to rebuff two of the most powerful and pervasive stereotypes around men experiencing sexual violence by women — the presumed inability

of women to overpower men due to their “weaker” physical stature which means this kind of penetration cannot or does not take place, and because men are taught to value and enjoy sex they must view all sexual opportunities with women as positive – the “lucky boy” syndrome.The issue, she added, was under-reported and underdiscussed. The “hidden-hidden” nature of the crime and the “complex” gender dynamics involved meant that huge numbers of survey participants were highly unlikely – not because this is not happening to men – but because many are made to feel too ashamed or feel too distressed to report it.

The majority of the participants who completed the survey reported that they knew the woman, often as an acquaintance or a friend.

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1 - 7 August, 2017

Europe battles Google news over ‘snippet tax’ proposal Belgium A major battle is brewing in Brussels over an EU reform plan that would force internet aggregators such as Google News to pay newspapers for displaying snippets of their articles online.

Google is furious at the reform idea, but powerful publishers, including Axel Springer in Germany or Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp in the UK, affirm that a tax is the only hope to save a news industry starving for revenue.

The fight, which will play out for the rest of the year, is the latest row straining ties between Google and the European Union, which slapped the Silicon Valley giant with a 2.4 billion euro ($2.8 billion) fine over unfair competition in June.

The proliferation of free news on the internet has brought the newspaper industry to its knees, with many consumers unwilling to pay for online service, preferring zero-cost platforms such as Google News or Facebook.

“Unauthorised internet use of media content” by aggregators

and search engines “is threatening citizens’ sustainable access to quality news content,”

The so-called “snippet tax” proposal is only one of several components of a major EU draft

said the European Alliance of News Agencies, of which AFP is a member.

“It is therefore crucial that neighbouring rights be created for news agencies and other publishers, covering all activity” on the web, the agency said.

Neighbouring rights is EU-speak for the obligation for online platforms such as Google or Facebook to pay for showing short quotes from copyrighted content, such as news articles.

law intended to update European copyright law in the digital age.

The “snippet tax” is largely based on a tax introduced in Spain that critics say actually harmed publishers when Google decided to close down its news aggregator in response.

Based on these examples, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), whose members include Google and Yahoo, called the idea “illfounded, controversial and

detrimental to all players.”

In a blog post published last year, Google said: “It would hurt anyone who writes, reads or shares the news - including the many European startups working with the news sector to build sustainable business models online.”

The two camps on the issue are now battling it out at the European Parliament and the EU council, the institution that gathers the national governments of the 28 member states.

Diplomats said the snippet tax has divided member states, with no compromise in sight for this year. Approval will require a special EU majority that must account for 65 percent of the bloc’s population and not solely a majority of member states.

For now, France, Spain and Germany have declared their support for the tax while Ireland, UK and the Nordic countries are against.

In the European Parliament, three committees have approved a version of the tax proposal, but the key Legal Affairs Committee has still to decide, with lobbyists working hard to influence its decision.

French MEP Marc Joulaud said the committee is expected to approve the law on October 10 with an eventual vote on the overall copyright reforms at a plenary session in December or January.

Then the hard work begins. EU member states, MEPs and the commission must negotiate a compromise of their separate texts.

“This is a very sensitive topic in parliament but also for journalists, some for, some against,” said Andrus Ansip, Commission vice-president in charge of the Digital Single Market.

“I didnt promote this idea, but publishers are very keen for neighbouring rights,” he added.

UK lawmaker says legislation to outlaw caste-based discrimination ‘unnecessary, divisive’

Leaders of Indo-Canadian community to target politicians pandering to pro-Khalistan elements Toronto An influential segment of the Indian community in Canada is attempting to forge a coherent strategy to target politicians

pandering to separatist elements espousing the pro-Khalistan viewpoint.

The effort, both at the federal and provincial levels, marks the first time the broader Indian community is trying to make its presence felt in the nation’s politics. Sikhs in Canada have already had significant success in the arena.

This initiative has been precipitated by a number of developments in recent months, including the passage of a resolution in the Ontario Assembly this April, which termed the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India a “genocide”. With elections in the Ontario due next year, the initiative will provide an opportunity to try and counter politicians who have fostered the Khalistani narrative.

Ajit Someshwar, one of the prominent figures behind this effort, said, “We are going to,

during the provincial elections, single out those active anti-India campaigners and support their opponents regardless of party,” referring to the Ontario elections.

Someshwar, who is also chair of the Canada India Foundation (CIF), said, “We have decided, at least for the short term, not to promote politicians who are active in this effort to pass the genocide provincially and also their backers federally.”

Businessman Ramesh Chotai, considered among the leading people of the Indian community, said, “We’re proud have a large representation of the IndoCanadian community in politics, but we also just want to remain united. We don’t want politicians to cause a fracture.”

Chotai refused to comment further on the matter except to say the effort is “a work in progress”.

A slate of measures in this regard include funding for candidates who do not support separatists and withdrawing funds from those that do. The preferred candidates, regardless

of political party, may also be assisted in other ways, including help with staffing campaigns.

However, none of those backing this effort are willing to discuss those details on the record. They did make it clear that neither the Indian Government nor its representatives are involved in this plan in any way.

Also on the agenda is informing the Indian community about these issues, which may include a mail blitz aimed at the nearly 20,000 voters of Indian origin.

This situation is akin to that prevailing in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, when many American politicians constantly attacked India. But, with the Indian-American community coming together as a significant lobbying bloc, that narrative has evolved and in recent years, that has led to a consensus cross-party support for enhanced engagement between India and the US. This is the first time a similar endeavour is being witnessed in Canada, as the Indian community attempts to broaden the base of participation in politics in the country, which has often been held hostage to an extremist fringe.

As Someshwar said, “It is not our role to get behind any one party. Our role is to create the right kind of environment for good public policy advocacy, that leads to the betterment of India and Canada relations. In that role, we will be supporting and encouraging more young people from our community to come forward and engage in the political process. For sure, we will be encouraging that with money and we will be encouraging that with access.”

London Amid intense lobbying, a ruling Conservative MP considered close to Hindu groups has called British legislation to outlaw caste-based discrimination as “ill thought-out, divisive and unnecessary”, for which a public consultation is on until September 18.Campaign groups such as the Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance allege that Dalits face discrimination in the UK, while Hindu, Sikh and Jain groups deny it. Some Sikh groups are likely to go to court on the ground that Sikhs, not being Hindus, do not believe in the hierarchical caste system.

Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East — which has a large Indian community — told the House of Commons on the eve of recess: “It is vital that the message goes out from this House that British Hindus have an opportunity to input to the Government consultation, so that the Government have the evidence they require to ensure we remove this ill thought-out, divisive and unnecessary legislation.”

Keith Vaz (Labour) responded to Blackman: “I share his concern about that part of the legislation, which is causing concern among the Hindu community, as Harrow and Leicester are very similar in

terms of their Hindu population, and I pledge my support for the campaign he has launched.”

Blackman hoped that Vaz would be able to persuade members of his party in both houses of Parliament “to support the government on doing what we want to see happening for British Hindus up and down the country”.

The ruling Conservative party is seen to be closer to the influential Hindu-Sikh-Jain lobbies.

Prime Minister Theresa May told Hindustan Times before the June 8 election: “I recognise the sensitivity on the caste issue; there is a consultation taking place. There was wording put into the relevant legislation in the House of Lords by Labour and Liberal Democrats working together on that, but I realise how sensitive this issue is.”

India has objected in international fora in the past to the notion that caste is an aspect of race.

Caste-based discrimination is not expressly prohibited under Britain’s equality legislation, but Section 9 of the Equality Act 2010, as amended, requires the government to introduce secondary legislation to make caste an aspect of race, thereby making caste discrimination a form of race discrimination.

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Princess Diana wanted to run away with bodyguard: New tapes London Princess Diana wanted to run away with a bodyguard with whom she had fallen “deeply in

love” to escape her loveless marriage with Prince Charles, according to Diana’s privately recorded videos with her voice coach which are set to be aired for the first time in the UK. The former Princess of Wales, who was killed in a car crash in Paris 20 years ago, had recorded the tapes with Peter Settelen at Kensington Palace in 1992-93.

They are now set to be aired for

the first time as part of a documentary on the UK’s Channel 4 next week.

In the recordings, she admits

falling in love with her bodyguard Barry Mannakee and also discloses her conversations with Charles over his affair with then Camilla Parker-Bowles.

“When I was 24 or 25 I fell deeply in love with someone who worked in this environment. I was quite happy to give all this up…just to go off and live. He [Mannakee] kept saying he thought it a good idea too,” she

American woman’s tweet about adopting cousin born to drug addict parents melts Twitter

is heard saying in excerpts published in ‘The Sunday Times’.

“I just needed someone to tell me I was all right and he mentally kicked me outside and made me go and do my engagements because I used to scream in this room [in Kensington Palace]. I should never have played with fire and I did and I got burnt,” she says.

Diana, however, denies that it was a sexual relationship and says that “it was all found out and he was chucked out and then he was killed [in a motorbike accident] and that was the biggest blow of my life”.

“He was the greatest friend I’ve ever had. That was a real killer,” she says.

In the tapes, she also describes the blunt response by Charles on being confronted about his affair as, “I refuse to be the only Prince of Wales who never had a mistress.”She also recounts going to see her mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, at the height of the crisis in the royal marriage, who reportedly said of her son, “I don’t know what you should do, Charles is hopeless”.

Diana’s brother Earl Spencer has urged Channel 4 to refrain from airing extracts from the tapes next week as they would cause distress to Diana’s sons Princes William and Harry.Settelen had been hired to help Diana prepare to publicly present her account of events after the couple separated in 1991.Although much of the footage is of voice lessons, at times she answered personal questions.The Channel 4 extracts are taken from seven tapes but there were believed to be 12 in all, with five still missing.

Panamagate JIT Recommends Reopening 15 Cases Against Sharif Islamabad The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which probed the Panama Papers case against Nawaz Sharif’s family assets has recommended reopening 15 cases against the Pakistani Prime Minister, the media reported on Sunday.

Of these 15 cases, three were registered during the 1994 and 2011 tenures of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and 12 during President Pervez Musharraf regime, soon after he toppled the Sharif government in the October 1999 military coup, reports Dawn News.

The case regarding the Sharif family’s four London apartments was also among the investigations started by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in December 1999.

In its April 20 verdict, the Supreme Court asked the JIT to investigate the money trail for the London flats, Dawn News reported.The JIT noted “that these (15) cases have also been quashed without conducting a proper trial and without giving evidence a chance to come on record”.The probe team also recommended the NAB be complete its investigation into the London properties.

On July 10, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court began examining a report submitted by the JIT over the money laundering allegations.

The bench, after examination of the report, asked for transcripts of all speeches made in the last 60 days by Sharif’s party leaders, presumably to examine them for contemptuous content.

Pakistani boy tortured to death over goat theft

Islamabad A 14-year-old Pakistani boy was allegedly tortured to death over theft of a goat in Punjab province, the media reported.

Family of Muhammad Amir alleged that the boy was tortured to death on Saturday for allegedly stealing a goat in Uch Sharif town, reports Dawn News.

The family lodged a protest and blocked traffic as the police

refused to register a case against the suspects, including owner of the goat.

According to a senior official, as the boy was found dead under mysterious circumstances, the Uch Sharif police just registered a death report.

He said murder case would be registered after post-mortem examination report, Dawn News reported.

More than 150 Islamist extremists stripped of passports in UK

Texas A 21-year-old American woman’s tweet about adopting her malnourished baby cousin so that he will soon become her baby brother, has touched a chord with many others who came online to share their own stories.

On July 21, Blaine Hamilton of Alvord, Texas, posted pictures of baby Coleman who showed an incredible transformation from malnutrition to a healthy life.

Blaine and her family adopted Coleman who was born malnourished from his drugaddict parents. She told BuzzFeed that Coleman is her first cousin on her mother’s side, and that he has been living with them for 15 months.

Coleman weighed below a healthy baby’s weight and that he was “neglected” by his birth parents, Hamilton tweeted.

Twitter Ads info and privacy Blaine’s family decided to take custody of Coleman from his parents who were also related by blood to them.

“He was my brother’s son, so knowing that he is with his biological family and that he will grow up with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. is comforting and rewarding to us,” Blaine’s mother told BuzzFeed.

When Blaine posted pictures of Coleman’s transformation on Twitter, it received overwhelming response from the users, with over 1,29,000 re-tweets and more than 5 lakh likes.

London More than 150 Islamist extremists have been stripped of their UK passports over fears that they would return from the Islamic State controlled territory in the Middle East to launch attacks in Britain.

According to The Sunday Times, more than 40 suspects have had their right to a British passport revoked this year alone, with around 30 targeted since March in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in London and Manchester.The newspaper claims the UK government has used so-called “deprivation orders” against 35 people to remove their citizenship rights in 2016 and another 15 in the first three months of 2017.

It quotes security sources as saying that another 30 have been stripped of passports since March.

Those who have had their citizenship removed include socalled “jihadi brides” who

travelled to Syria to marry terrorists and live under the “caliphate” as well as gunmen.

They are all dual nationals,

“We have planned and prepared for the risk posed by British returnees as Daesh (Islamic State) is defeated in Iraq and

including people born in Britain to parents of other nationalities.

Under UK law, the government cannot take away the citizenship of individuals if it would leave them stateless.

According to official figures from last year, 72 people were subject to a deprivation order between 2011 and 2015.

Syria and we are using a range of tools to disrupt and diminish that threat,” said UK security minister Ben Wallace.

Britain’s security chiefs believe at least 850 fighters have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with the IS and about half have returned and around 130 have been killed.

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President’s daughter Row over Gita at Kalam memorial; Quran, sparks breastfeeding Bible also placed later, then removed debate with photo

Bishkek Aliya Shagieva posted the photo on social media back in April with the caption: ‘I will feed my child whenever and wherever he needs to be fed.’

She took the post down after being accused of immoral behaviour, but in an exclusive interview with the newspaper she said the row was a result of a culture which hyper-sexualised the female form.

“This body I’ve been given is not vulgar. It is functional, its purpose is to fulfil the physiological needs of my baby, not to be sexualised,” she told newspaper.

Aliya Shagieva says her child simply needs to eat It wasn’t only some social media users who disapproved. Her parents, President Almazbek Atambayev and his wife Raisa,

were also unhappy.

“They really didn’t like it. And it is understandable because the younger generation is less conservative than their parents,” Ms Shagieva said, speaking at her home on the outskirts of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.

Ms Shagieva posts actively on social media, including her own artwork and carefully stylized portraits of herself and her husband and baby, often set against the backdrop of wide open landscapes.

Breastfeeding is a recurring theme.

“When I’m breastfeeding my child I feel like I’m giving him the best I can give. Taking care of my baby and attending to his needs is more important to me than what people say about me,” Ms Shagieva said.

Rameswaram An engraved Bhagavad Gita near the statue of late president APJ Abdul Kalam kicked up a controversy, with his family seeking to end the row by placing a copy of the Quran and the Bible near it.

However, in latest development, leader of a local Hindu outfit objected to the placing of the Quran and the Bible near the statue on the ground that “no permission was taken” for the same. Hours later, officials manning the memorial, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27, kept the Bible and Quran in a glass box in the vicinity of the statue.Hindu Makkal Katchi leader K Prabhakaran filed a police complaint claiming that the two holy books (Quran and Bible) were placed without

Turkmenistan comes to standstill for leader’s mass bike ride Ashgabat Turkmenistan’s authoritarian leader brought the Central Asian nation’s capital to a shuddering halt as he slipped into green lycra to spearhead a mass bike ride, state media reported Sunday.

President Gurbanguly

Berdymukhamedov led a pack of officials along a 15-kilometre (9mile) route through Ashgabat, the latest initiative by the sports-mad strongman to boost healthy living in his country.A ban on private cars in the city caused major disruption during the event Saturday, which was also intended to promote the 2017

Asian indoor games to be held in the country in September.

“The patriotic mood of the participants of the bike ride was strengthened by musical performances along the route,” noted a commentator on the state-run sports channel.

According to the broadcast, 7,700 people took part in the bike ride in the capital with other rides taking place elsewhere across the gas-rich country.

Berdymukhamedov himself hailed cycling as an “ecologically clean sport” gaining popularity across the country, “especially among youth” in comments

broadcast by Sport TV. But not everyone was happy.

“Large numbers of people were at the bus stops, people were storming packed buses whose doors could barely be closed,” said 28-year-old Selbi Bayramova, a businesswoman.

Former dentist Berdymukhamedov has become the subject of his own personality cult since taking over after the death of eccentric former leader Saparmurat Niyazov a decade ago.A gold statue of the leader riding his favourite horse has been erected in Ashgabat and he enjoys blanket coverage in the fawning state media.

On Friday, state television showed Berdymukhamedov and three of his grandchildren performing a new song that it claimed he had composed himself.The song, titled “In My Memory” bears witness “to the bright talent of the Protector,” the TV announcer said, using Berdymukhamedov’s popular moniker.The song “glorifies the bright love in which all the beauty of the world is reflected” and was intended as “a wonderful gift to the Turkmen people”, the commentator said.

permission from the authorities.

“I respect all these books. But keeping them (in the memorial) without permission is wrong.

Steps should be taken to see that such things are not done again,” he told reporters.

Vaiko-led MDMK and the PMK raised questions on the need for keeping the engraved Bhagavad Gita alongside the wooden statue of Kalam playing the musical instrument veena in the Rs 15 crore memorial, designed and built by the Defence Research and Development Organisation with which Kalam was associated for a long time.

Meanwhile, Kalam’s relatives Sheik Dawood and Salim told PTI earlier on Sunday, “An unnecessary controversy was raised by some people. DRDO officials worked tirelessly for the memorial construction and had not sculpted the Bhagavad Gita near the statue with any (ill) intention. Now we have left two books -- Quran and Bible near the statue”.

They said they would also place

a copy of Tamil treatise Thirukkural near the statue soon.

They said Kalam was a leader to all Indians and no one should seek to politicise the issue.

An MDMK spokesperson said party founder Vaiko had already questioned the need for a Bhagavad Gita there, when Kalam used to refer only from Thirukkural.

A PMK leader, who did not wish to be named, also questioned the need for sculpting the wooden piece with the name of Bhagavad Gita, saying Kalam was common to all citizens of India.

The memorial at Peikarambu, inaugurated on the second death anniversary of the popular scientist at his home town Rameswaram, also has on display a replica of rockets and missiles on which the late scientist had worked.

Besides, about 900 paintings and 200 rare photographs of Kalam, who held the office of president from 2002 to 2007, are on display at the memorial.

Legalise marijuana for ‘medical’ purpose FacebookTwitterGoogle+EmailPrint

New Delhi Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has suggested legalising marijuana, a psychoactive drug, for medical purposes on the lines of the practice adopted by some developed countries like the US to curb drug abuse.

The suggestion was made at a meeting of a group of

ministers, which examined the draft Cabinet note on the National Drug Demand Reduction Policy. The GoM approved the draft national policy with minor modifications.

Asked to elaborate, Gandhi said “marijuana should be legalised for medical purposes, especially as it serves a purpose in cancer”.

During the meeting of the GoM, which was chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Gandhi also stressed on the need for regulating the sale and availability of pharmaceutical drugs such as codeine cough syrups and inhalants, which are being abused. PM Narendra Modi has directed the GoM to examine the draft policy for drug demand reduction.

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Nitish missed a stab at sainthood Harish Khare I am still unable to understand what exactly Nitish Kumar has gained by his antics in Bihar. He was Chief Minister before he walked out on his alliance partners and teamed up with the very people against whom he had campaigned so vigorously only eighteen months ago; yes, he is Chief Minister again, but, once more, dependent upon another set of allies. In good time, the new set of allies would also make demands which he will have to concede.

Whatever may be his compulsions and calculations, the saddest part is that Nitish Kumar has only ended up reinforcing the cynical impression about the Indian politicians. If Nitish Kumar has no qualms in going back to those very people he had denounced so effectively and so sincerely, the BJP, too, has no problem in embracing him again. In fact, in state after state, the BJP has been inducting those very discredited and “corrupt” Congressmen and Congresswomen whom its leadership had castigated in choicest of colourful phrases.

In simple language, that is called opportunism. But the Indian politicians are too clever and too self-serving to be bothered; instead, they can be relied upon to weave a tale — and, a very convincing tale, at that — to explain and justify their compromises. Well, well!

Politicians will be politicians.

I am inclined to believe that Nitish Kumar missed a great opportunity to emerge as a genuine moral voice in Indian politics.

Suppose, instead of getting into bed with the BJP, had he simply resigned and walked away, citing his inability to put up with Lalu Prasad and his family and their “corrupt” ways! Overnight, he would have carved out a place for himself, an exalted space in public life beyond Bihar; he would have bought himself a valuable halo and could have possibly emerged as the second “JP.” Had he simply walked away and not sought to stay in the chief minister’s chair, he would have been able to talk of “sacrifice”, would have convincingly raised his voice against “corruption” as a little more than the current vendetta against political rivals.

As “Sant Nitish”, he would have not only aroused public consciousness not just against “corruption” of the old (Lalu Prasad type) but also against the creeping shadow of the corporate corruption on Indian political life.

As “Sant Nitish”, he would not have had to endorse a moral equivalence between communalism and secularism. If ‘secularism’ cannot be a cover to justify ‘corruption’, then ‘fight against corruption’ cannot be a cover to legitimize communal politics. As “Sant Nitish”, he could have helped the nation resolve this dilemma. Alas, the

could-have-been sant turned out to be a very familiar sinner. ******* I am baffled that some Congress leaders chose to make an issue of President Ram Nath Kovind’s omission of Jawaharlal Nehru’s

I am sure not more than a dozen people in this country would be able to spell out what contribution Deendayal Upadhyaya made to our national life over the decades.

The Sangh Parivar needs an icon and it is welcome to Pandit

Singh has an authoritative understanding of the Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads. In his public speeches, he often recites in Sanskrit from the holy scriptures.

It always makes an impression,

name from his first speech as our new Rashtrapati. Either these leaders do not know their Nehru or they are engaging themselves in some kind of a ritual, meant to please the Congress’ first family. I am sure these leaders do know that Nehru’s imprint on this country is permanent and indelible and it simply does not get eroded just because the nation-builder does not find a mention in a presidential address.

We have been told that this is the first time since 1950 that the head of our republic belongs to the Jana Sangh/BJP/RSS. True, he is presumed to have severed his party links; but it would be unrealistic to expect that he would be able to acquire overnight a different mindset. So, no one should be surprised that Nehru did not get a mention.

It is a grave injustice for the Congressmen to think that Nehru belongs exclusively to them or to a political family just as it would be a tragedy if any governing establishment were to think of the first premier as a political party functionary. He was a national leader, a supreme nationalist and a patriot. Yet, he had carved out an international presence for himself and India.

Given our current political narrowmindedness, we may allow ourselves a sadistic pleasure in denigrating Nehru and demeaning his contribution, but history is not so easily erased or rewritten. Like any other democratic ruler, who served the nation for seventeen long years, he had his share of accomplishments and disappointments. Similarly, I fail to understand the excitement over President Kovind bracketing Deendayal Upadhyaya with Mahatma Gandhi. I am sure the Mahatma would be amused at all those who are taking offence at this hyphenation.

Deendayal jee. The Mahatma does not lose his stature just because in a presidential speech he gets bracketed with an obscure ideologue. Indeed, I am inclined to believe that the Mahatma would be immensely pleased if someone were to think that someone’s stature gets enhanced in his company.

History is complicated. In this age of information explosion, neither lies nor distortions can remain unchallenged for long. Gandhi and Nehru need no protection — or official patronage. ******* On Friday evening, I was very kindly invited by my friend Ashwani Kumar, former Union law minister, to attend a reception at the Japanese Ambassador’s residence. The occasion was to mark the conferment of “the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun” by the Japanese Emperor on Ashwani Kumar. It was quite a gathering — distinguished legal luminaries, political leaders across party lines, and senior diplomats. The limelight, though, was stolen by Dr Karan Singh, the Eminence Grise of the Indian public life. The former Maharaja, now a commoner, was asked to say a few words. Though frail, he cuts a striking figure. He spoke eruditely about the cultural bonds between India and Japan, and captivated the gathering when, by way of benediction, he recited a ‘mahaarti’. Effortlessly impressive.

Later, when I complimented him on his command over Sanskrit, he surprised me by revealing that it was only when he was already 23 years old that he first started learning the language. “One day, one Pandjit jee came and he said he wanted to teach me Sanskrit.

That was it. I never learnt how to write, but I can and do read the language,” he said.

Now, as we know, Dr Karan

especially in an Englishspeaking crowd.

I remember many, many years ago Khushwant Singh telling us how as a very young, yuvraj, Karan Singh used to mesmerise the elite gatherings in New Delhi with a flawless recitation of TS Eliot’s long poem, ‘The Wasteland.’

The same gift for an eloquent recital becomes even more eloquent in Sanskrit. ******* It was pleasing to learn that former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukbhir had made a point of travelling to Patiala and calling on Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to convey their condolences after the Captain lost his mother. The occasion called for grace and dignity and it was very decent of the Badals to put in an appearance. Civilised behaviour among political rivals should be encouraged and even applauded as such gestures do deepen the democratic roots in the country.

I will certainly raise my cup of coffee to the Badals. Join me.

Tricks of a convenient conscience : A neat coup has been staged in Patna. Brilliantly conceived and cleverly executed.

Not with tanks and commandos but with a convenient conscience and gentrified opportunism.

Within a space of 24 hours, a chief minister resigns, divests himself of his designated alliance partners, teams up with his declared political rivals and becomes chief minister again after getting sworn in at an unseemly superfast speed by a very obliging Governor. Reads like the script of a second-rate Hindi film from the 1980s. That is Indian politics, bhai saheb. An unadulterated power confrontation gets dressed up like a morality play. On the Kargil Divas Day, another kind of victory is notched

up. There is something decidedly un-kosher about the turn of events in Patna, yet we are invited to feel good about it, even celebrate the return of the prodigal son.

Perhaps the biggest casualty is the sanctity of a mandate in a free and fair election. Let us make no mistake about the very unnaturalness of the new government. This is the second time that the ruling party at the Centre has opted to get into a political bed with the very formation against which it sought votes from the electorate. First, it was in Jammu and Kashmir; now in Bihar. In Jammu and Kashmir, the very incongruity of the PDPBJP alliance has severely damaged the legitimacy of the entire Indian democratic project.

Every sober analyst concedes that it is the inherent disregard of the popular mandate that has fuelled the fires of defiance in the streets of Srinagar.

Complications — bloody and messy — arising out of this suborning of the electoral mandate have made themselves felt way beyond the valley.

Now the same disregard of an electoral mandate has been sanctified in the Patna Raj Bhavan. A partisan Governor showed indecent haste in swearing in Nitish Kumar. Indian constitutional democracy has been robbed of its already diminishing shine. Politics has been shown up as a shabby enterprise. Why was it easy for Nitish Kumar to walk away from Lalu Prasad and his party? In part, the answer has to be that Lalu has failed to reinvent himself and has remained complacently plugged into the old sense of entitlement. He has obstinately refused to understand that old assumptions and arrangements no longer work. India has changed, and so has Bihar.

Those who want to rule over us need to understand that power would not be handed over to them so that they could convert public office into a licence. Instead, the new India demands that the elected rulers do something in return for us: an acknowledgement of rule of law and a demonstration of respect for its institutions of accountability. A mandate no longer stops at giving izzat or atmn-saman to “my people”.

Perhaps Nitish Kumar felt confident that he could play upon the middle classes’ yearning for a lawful society, whereas Lalu and his family and party continue to remain oblivious to the notions of good governance. Law has a habit of catching up with past follies and misdeeds, however keen Lalu and his sons may have been to wipe the slate clean. There is a message in all this for other family overlords-the Badals, the Paswans, the Thackerays, the Mayawatis, even the Gandhis. All of them suffer from a flawed approach to public office; that is why when in office Congressmen take to fighting one another like alley cats over spoils of office.

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Putin expels 755 US diplomats from Russia in response to sanctions Moscow Russian President Vladimir V Putin announced on Sunday that 755 American diplomats would be expelled from Moscow by September 1. The expulsions were ordered on Friday when Russiaordered the United States to reduce the number of their diplomats in the country as a mark of retaliation for new sanctions against Moscow passed last week by the US Congress. Putin, while speaking in a television interview on the Rossiya 1 network, said that “Russia’s patience in waiting for improved relations with the United States had worn out.”

“We waited for quite some time that maybe something will change for the better, had such hope that the situation will somehow change, but, judging by everything, if it changes, it will not be soon,” Putin said, according to the Interfax news agency.The Russian Foreign Ministry had earlier issued a statement saying the number of American diplomats in the US Embassy in Moscow and its four consulates across the country should be reduced to 455 by September 1, which is the same as the number of Russian

diplomats currently serving in the US. It also said it would seize two US diplomatic properties, including cottages just outside Moscow’s city center and a warehouse facility in Moscow.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov threatened further retaliation against the US “If the US side decides to move further towards further deterioration, we will answer, we

original passport of crew members on arrival and the personnel then have only photocopies of their travel documents during their stay in Saudi. While this practice has always worried pilots and flight attendants, their fears recently turned true when the crew of an AI flight was reportedly detained in Jeddah last Wednesday for this reason. “We operated AI 931 on July 26, 2017. After landing in Jeddah ... (three crew members) went for dinner... Our taxi was stopped by Saudi police to check our permits.

On showing them our xerox from immigration and our valid AI ID, we were put in police vans and

administration imposed on Moscow in December, for its meddling in the US election last year and for its aggression in Ukraine.

The bill also would give Congress veto power to block any easing of those sanctions. The growing tensions between Russia and the US over the sanctions bill come in the wake of the congressional investigations into Russian hacking into the 2016 election, which the USintelligence services have said was an effort to influence the election in Trump’s favour.

Arab states to allow Qatari planes use emergency air corridors The embassy properties must be handed over by August 1.

Russia’s move came a day after the US Senate passed a bill expanding economic sanctions on Russia, as well as North Korea and Iran. The massive vote margins reflected growing bipartisan anxiety over Trump’s two meetings with Putin in Hamburg, Germany, this month.

Following the orders, Russian

will respond in kind,” CNN reported Ryabkov, as saying to ABC’s “This Week.”

“We will mirror this. We will retaliate. ... But my whole point is, don’t do this, it is to the detriment of the interests of the US”, The deputy foreign minister did not specify what Russia’s plans for retaliation are, but said that the country has “a very rich toolbox at our disposal.”Earlier,

Flying to Saudi gives jitters to crew of Indian airliners NEW DELHI The crew of Indian carriers Air India and Jet Airways that operate toSaudi Arabia are a scared lot.The country keeps the

Putin, speaking at a news conference in Finland, accused the US lawmakers of “insolence.”

“We are behaving in a very restrained and patient way, but at some moment we will need to respond,” Putin told reporters.

“It’s impossible to endlessly tolerate this kind of insolence toward our country. This practice is unacceptable. It destroys international relations and international law,” he added.

The sanctions bill would slap new sanctions on Russia, and would set into law penalties former president Barack Obama’s

were told not to use cell phones.

Luckily we made a call to (the) hotel and explained the situation and gave our location,” said a message by one of the three AI

crew members who were allegedly detained in Jeddah last week.

When asked why they were being detained, the crew says they were told that photocopies of passports won’t do and that original documents should be shown for checking.

They were allowed to leave three hours later. The crew members’ message said the local AI official told them that Saudi was organising a drive to send back illegal immigrants due to which checks have been intensified.

“Technically our xerox permits (passport copies) are invalid and going out is a big risk,” the message says. An Air India

spokesperson said the airline was “trying to confirm this from Jeddah administration.”

A senior pilot of Jet Airways had on June 1 raised the issue of Saudi Arabia keeping passports of airline crew on arrival at immigration with the aviation and external affairs ministry. “A passport is a citizen’s personal proof of identity and nationality when in foreign land, without which a persons status instantaneously declines to that of a refugee. (Saudi) cannot be allowed to treat its visitors with such disdain. We enter their airspace and country only at their request and permission,” the letter, titled “Passport retention -- Saudi Arabia” and sent to the aviation and foreign ministries, says.

“We urge your office to take cognisance of this issue which is faced by the airline fraternity and find an amicable solution the earliest by coordinating with the appropriate department of Saudi Arabia.. The Passports Act, 1967, of India requires that a passport is the property of the government of India and should be in the custody either of the holder or a person authorised by the holder,” says the letter, seeking urgent redressal.

The senior Jet pilot had sent a reminder too, but has so far not received a reply from the government and may move court on the issue.

Dubai Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain will allow Qatari planes to use air corridors in emergencies, the Saudi state news agency SPA said on Sunday. “Nine corridors have been identified including one in international air space over the Mediterranean sea that will

be monitored by the Egyptian authorities,” SPA reported, citing a statement from the Saudi aviation authority.

A green sponge hold cancer-fighting secrets

WASHINGTON A small green sponge discovered in dark, icy waters of the Pacific off Alaska could be the first effective weapon against pancreatic cancer, researchers said Wednesday.

Pancreatic cancer, with particularly aggressive tumors, is notoriously difficult to treat.

“One would never have imagined looking at this sponge that it could be miraculous,” Bob Stone, a researcher at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said in a briefing by phone.Stone discovered the sponge, dull in color, called “Latrunculia austini” in 2005 while on a seabed exploration expedition in Alaska.It lives on rocks in patches at depths of 230-720 feet (70-219m).Lab testing has shown that several molecules in this sponge selectively destroy pancreatic cancer cells, said Mark Hamann, a University of South Carolina researcher working with Fred

Valeriote of the Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit.

“This is undoubtedly the most active molecule against pancreatic cancer that we see,” said Hamann. “Although there is still much work to be done, it marks the first key step in the discovery and process of developing a treatment,” he said.

Pancreatic cancer progresses slowly, a circumstance which leaves patients in a tough position as late diagnosis means little chance for successful treatment. Patients’ chances of survival at five years for this tumor are only 14%, according to the American Cancer Society.

“I’ve looked at 5,000 sponge extracts over the last two decades,” Valeriote said. “In terms of this particular pattern of pancreatic and ovarian cancer selective activity, we’ve only seen one (other) sponge with such activity, and that was one collected many years ago in Indonesia.”

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No room at the inn for India’s ‘sacred’ cows New Delhi India-Revered by most Indians, cows are at the centre of political battles and ‘lynch mob’ attacks, but they are being abandoned in growing numbers and turned away by shelters that cannot cope.The Sri Krishna Gaushala on the outskirts of New Delhi is typical of shelters for homeless cows across India - struggling to keep up with demand.

Authorities in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana states are thinking of building cow shelters in prisons.

At one Uttar Pradesh shelter, scores of cows are reported to have died from hunger in recent weeks.Sri Krishna is spread over 38 acres (15 hectares) and is home to nearly 8,000 cows, bulls and calves - mostly ageing, ailing, and no longer producing milk.Rajendra Singh Shekhawat manages 110 bustling sheds where cows are fed, treated and even massaged after being rescued, bought from cashstrapped farmers, or donated.

The shelter is close to its 7,800 capacity. “We have 7,700 right now. All the other cow shelters in Delhi are facing the same problem, they’re all overcrowded,” Shekhawat told AFP.Cows are worshipped as a mother figure by Hindus who make up more than 900 million of the country’s 1.3 billion population.Some people consider cows a one-stop-shop for their dairy and medical needs.

Many believe that drinking cow urine can cure everything from arthritis and asthma to cancer

and diabetes.

“The cow isn’t an animal, it isn’t an ordinary living thing. She is our mother and her place should

cows being taken for slaughter can spark murderous reprisals and religious riots.The government tried to impose a

be at a home,” 55-year-old Shekhawat told AFP as a veterinarian hooked up intravenous drips to one ailing animal.But a 2012 livestock census found there were more than five million strays across India and more than 12,000 in Delhi.Cows hold up city traffic and graze on plastic bags, used sanitary napkins and corroded batteries on garbage dumps.

One had to be rescued in Delhi last week after falling down a rain drain.Courts have repeatedly ordered authorities to take action because of the safety and public health risk.But since Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party stormed to power in 2014, cows have won a near-VIP status. Rumours of

nationwide ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter, triggering an outcry among Muslims and other minorities who eat beef.The ban was suspended by the Supreme Court this month.

Every month, some 600 cattle are rounded up in Delhi and relocated to five shelters.

“Three of the five are packed.

Currently we’re deporting strays to the nearest less-crowded shelter,” Jitendra Kumar Gaur, director of Delhi’s animal husbandry department, told AFP. Gaur said improved technology and health measures like vaccinations and deworming have boosted cows’ lifespan.

But he also blames “the commercial mindset of farmers” who only keep cows while they provide milk.

New Delhi/Jammu The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is working on making one of the seven accused, who were arrested on

asking his son Nayeem to join investigation in the case on Monday in Delhi. It is the second time that Nayeem has been issued formal summons to join

faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and he is a member of the legal cell of the Hurriyat.

“He is a close associate of a top Hurriyat leader and regularly attends funerals of militants. The NIA is investigating his role as a courier as he is suspected to be involved in routing funds to the separatist leaders from Pakistanbased handlers,” Mittal added.

During the searches, the NIA team recovered four mobile phones, a tablet, other electronic devices, incriminating documents, financial papers and some other articles.

Behal was questioned by NIA sleuths at the time of searches and was then allowed to go. But he will be formally summoned to join the probe soon, said sources.

The NIA is also gearing up to file the first chargesheet in the case within the next month.

Sources said the agency’s probe against the first seven arrested accused is almost complete. A chargesheet early in the case will ensure no arrested accused gets bail easily from the court. The NIA is probing charges that Hurriyat leaders get funding from terror outfits in Pakistan to fuel violence in the Valley that includes acts of burning of schools and paying money to stone pelters.

“This is the first time we are facing this ‘overcrowding’ problem and the menace is mainly created by those who abandon their cattle.”

Every day, the five shelters receive 40 rupees ($0.62) per animal from the government.

Shekhawat says he spends more than 100 rupees ($1.55) for each cow.Supporters of the shelter donate thousands of dollars each year to keep it going.But space is also a problem.Shekhawat said he has asked the Delhi government for more land so he can “house an additional 5,000, 7,000 or even 10,000 cows here.”Delhi does not have spare land, said Gaur, whose department wants to put a microchip in every bovine to help track and identify animals and their owners.

“We have long-term solutions.

We won’t let this problem get out of hand,” he vowed.

Shekhawat maintains that the best way to lower the number of strays is for Indians to go back to their rural roots and “take care of cows at home”.With stray numbers rising, it is tough for Delhi residents to look after a cow in a city where the population is shooting toward 20 million.And the problem is not limited to Delhi, according to animal rights activist Rima Anand, highlighting shelters bursting at the seams across India.

US Navy ship fires flares at Iranian patrol boat A US Navy ship has fired flares at an Iranian patrol boat in the Persian Gulf on the day Tehran condemned new sanctions on its missile programme. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that the US Navy had approached their patrol vessels in the Gulf and fired flares in what it called a provocative move yesterday afternoon. In a statement, the Guards said, “The supercarrier USS Nimitz and its accompanying warship flew a helicopter near the Resalat oil and gas platform and approached the force’s ships.

The Americans in a provocative and unprofessional move, sent a warning message to the frigates and fired flares.” The Guards ‘ignored the unconventional move by the US ships and continued their mission, after which the supercarrier and its warship left the area’, the statement added.

On Tuesday, a US Navy patrol ship fired warning shots at a Guards boat in the Gulf as it closed in on the American vessel, US officials said. The Guards denied approaching the US ship on that occasion and said it was the American vessel that had been at fault. There have been a string of close encounters between US ships and Iranian vessels in the Gulf in recent months.

NIA Begins Process to Attach Properties of Proclaimed Pak funding of Kashmiri separatists: NIA Offender Zakir Naik looking for an approver among accused

charges of getting Pakistani funding to fuel violence in the Valley, an approver in the case.

“We are working in this direction on one of the accused. The accused who turns approver will be given pardon by the court if his confession is found honest and truthful. An approver will give us a firm legal footing in the case, corroborate witness statements and technical evidence to prove our case,” said a senior NIA official on the condition of anonymity.

The agency further tightened screws on Hurriyat Conference hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani by

the probe.

The NIA on Sunday also conducted searches at the premises of a close Geelani aide Devender Singh Behal in Jammu.

“Behal is considered a close confidant of Geelani. It is suspected that he used to act as a personal courier for Geelani.

He has visited the Pakistani high commission many times,” said an NIA official on the condition of anonymity.

In a formal statement, NIA Inspector General Alok Mittal said Behal’s JKSPF is a constituent of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC)

New Delhi The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday said it is in process of attaching the properties of Islamic Preacher Zakir Naik after it declared him a proclaimed offender. The court of NIA passed an order, on July 21 stating that requirements for publication of proclamation against Zakir Naik have been complied with. Recently, the central government revoked the passport of Naik as well on the directions of the NIA that booked him on charges of Unlawful Activities Act. Zakir Naik, since last year, after fleeing from India, has been travelling across the globe, but with the revocation, he will have to stay within the boundaries.

The NIA in his investigations found that the Islamic preacher had real estate dealings with a builder who was close to gangster Chhota Rajan. A News

18 report states that 51-year-old Naik, with the help of Parvez Khan-aide of Rajan, purchased properties in Dubai, Mumbai and Pune. Reportedly, Naik, founder of Peace TV, purchased around 25 flats worth 100 crore rupees in Mumbai and surrounding areas. The NIA in its investigation has managed to gather evidence against Naik for allegedly promoting hatred between different religious groups. His NGO and TV Channel has been banned by the government. He left India on May 13 last year and did not appear before the NIA for questioning.

Atif Muzzafar, an accused in terror case, had earlier told NIA that the Kanpur train blast was the result of Zakir Naik’s hate speeches. An accused in the Bhopal case claimed to have been inspired by the speeches of Naik as he used to speak against Hindu Gods.

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ON A MISSION Shastri adds a different hue to India team’s training style

A FTER taking charge of the team in his second stint, India coach Ravi Shastri has tweaked team’s preparation style and though it’s early days, an immediate impact can be noticed. A key implementation on Shastris part is how the batsmen are now ever ready to bat in the middle. This has nothing to do with batting order, instead a new practice of warming up before going down to the middle. It was evident in Galle itself when Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund, India’s pairing for the first Test, reached the ground before the rest of the squad. The mandate for them was to get to the nets and start hitting balls just in case India bat first. As it turned out, Kohli did win the toss and the amply warmed-up Dhawan smashed 190 off 168 balls in the first innings. By the time the openers went in, Cheteshwar Pujara had completed this routine, while Virat Kohli was in the nets. It is a different approach to the previous regime,

of course, and agreeably welcomed in the team as well.

The underlining aspect of this new thought process from coach Shastri is his belief that the team should exert its number one status on the field. India were confirmed as the world’s number one ranked Test side under Anil Kumble, romping to successive victories over the West Indies, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia.

Shastri has also brought forth a certain differentiation in the teams thinking in the short span of time that he has spent with them thus far. In one of his first conversations with the team, the coach had underlined the importance of enjoying the game before thinking of anything else.

Apparently, he had asked the players to remember why they had started playing cricket and urged them to “exhibit this passion on the field”. Given the short timeframe of comparison, it might be harsh to highlight Kumbles coaching approach as a bit too methodical, if not

mechanical. Shastris first move has been to unshackle the players in his own inimitable way, whilst keeping a tight leash on how things take their course within the dressing room. And there is a keen example of this as well. For some time now, the Indian team has a standing rule that injured/ill players will be given Shastri adds a different hue to India team’s training style back their spots in the playing eleven when they make a successful return to the squad after proving their fitness.

Apparently, in February when India were preparing to play Bangladesh, Ajinkya Rahane, returning from injury, was not aware of his standing in the teams plans. It was only after Kohli highlighted in the prematch press conference that Karun Nair despite his triple ton would have to make way for the vice-captain, did a clearer picture emerge. There is much clarity now in keeping with how things shaped up couple years ago. Earlier past week, KL Rahul recovered sufficiently from his illness and joined the team in Galle. He even frolicked with his colleagues on Sunday as the Indian players spent their afternoon at a resort near their team hotel. Although the team management hasn’t officially confirmed his return to full fitness, it is expected that he will be part of the playing eleven at the SSC in Colombo when the second Test starts on August 3.

As such, it becomes a problem of plenty. India will once again have three fit and in-form openers to choose from, yet it is an easy guess the name expected to lose out.

Kohli backs Pandya to become India’s Stokes ALL-ROUNDER Hardik Pandya has the potential to become India’s Ben Stokes and improve the balance of the side, captain Virat Kohli said after the 23-year-old’s encouraging Test debut in the win against Sri Lanka.

England’s Stokes is widely regarded the best fast-bowling all-rounder in the world with his match-winning prowess with both bat and ball. “When you play away from home, one guy (allrounder) gives you a lot of balance and I think Hardik can be that guy going ahead specially playing so much cricket away from home,” Kohli told reporters after India’s 304-run win on Saturday.

“If he grows in confidence — you see someone like Ben Stokes what he does for England. Brings in great balance as an all-rounder.

I see no reason why Hardik Pandya can’t become that for India.” In his first innings in tests, Pandya scored 50 off 49 deliveries, his knock studded with five fours and three sixes. The medium

paceman took one wicket in Sri Lanka’s first innings but looked more dangerous during a hostile spell in the second when he peppered the hosts’ batsmen with short deliveries. “First innings, he didn’t get the opportunity to bowl much but I think in the second innings, he bowled really nicely on a wicket that wasn’t offering much and he kept it in the right areas,” Kohli said. “He used the bouncer well. He bowls around 135 (kilometres per hour) when he bends his back he can go higher. So he is a great asset and I have mentioned this before as well.

And specially his batting ... He got 50 quickly and that saves you time as well. That gives you another 15 overs to bowl at the opposition. And his fielding is also tremendous.”

Pandya is already a regular feature of India’s limited-overs side and Kohli backed the allrounder to shine in the redball format and in all conditions.

India face selection ‘dilemma’ after massive win over Lanka in first Test INDIA’S thrashing of Sri Lanka in the first Test has left captain Virat Kohli with a massive yet welcome headache as he ponders his team selection for the next match.

India dominated the first Test from the outset to win by 304 runs with a day to spare in Galle. The tourist’s top order batsmen fared well, with Shikhar Dhawan making 190 in the first innings and fellow opener Abhinav Mukund contributing a quickfire 81 in the second. Chatesh Pujara also blasted 153 batting at three in the first innings while Kohli chipped in with an unbeaten 103 batting at four in the second. The success of the top four batsmen however leaves Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri with a dilemma ahead of the second Test, starting in Colombo on Thursday. Regular opener Lokesh Rahul missed the match in Galle because he was suffering from the flu but is expected to be available for the next game, meaning someone has to miss out. “Yes, it’s a very tricky situation,” Kohli admitted.

“We’ve got all four openers firing now. Shikhar was supposed to go to Melbourne, now he’s got a 190 in Galle.

So, anything can happen in life. It’s a massive headache but I guess a good one. You know, eventually guys understand that only two can take the field and at most two or three openers make the squad.” Kohli was careful not to pre-empt any picks and hoped whoever missed out would not be too disappointed. “We’ll have to eventually take a call on who plays in the next Test and I am sure the third guy will understand whatever the call is taken by the team,” the skipper said. Dhawan was a late inclusion for the series opener, replacing the injured Murali Vijay, but made the most of his chance with his career-high 190. “My plans were to go to Melbourne and spend time with my family, do training and get fit for the oneday series,” he said. “I was in Hong Kong actually on holiday and from there I flew back to India and joined the team. That was my plan and I think destiny had

a different plan for me.” Kohli was also happy with the bowlers’ performance, particularly

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The Galle pitch favoured batting, with India piling on 600 and 240-3, but the Indians twice bowled out the home side for less than 300.

“We are able to capitalise in those situations and really put more pressure on the opposition,” Kohli said. “I would say that we really exectuted our plans well to force the opposition to make mistakes regularly.” Sri Lanka’s standin captain Rangana Herath insisted his team were better than the lopsided result of the first test indicated. Injured allrounder Asela Gunaratne was unable to bat in either innings, while Herath could not pad up in the second innings after he was injured.

Gunaratne has been ruled out of the remaining two tests with a

broken finger while Herath, who also injured a finger, expects to return. “We bowled badly, fielded badly and batted badly in the first innings, Herath said. We are a better team than that. We need to find out how we can do better than this moving forward.1.”

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Uber horror: Passenger films driver having oral sex at wheel AN UBER passenger was subject to the most uncomfortable ride of his life where his driver seemingly received oral sex from a prostitute, and the company attempted to apologise by offering him a mere $10 credit.

Aner Manuel claims he was stuck in an Uber for two miles while an intoxicated prostitute groped and performed oral sex on the driver. The horrified customer posted footage of the “most dangerous and inappropriate ride ever” on social media after the incident in Chicago around 3 am on July 17. In the clip, a woman is seen kissing the driver and then lowering her head into his lap, while mood music plays over the stereo. After the ride-hailing service allegedly offered him a $10 credit, Manuel posted the video online to prompt Uber to appropriately respond to the complaint. The video, believed to have been filmed on Snapchat, shows an alleged Uber driver looking at a phone’s map while a woman in the front seat begins to kiss him. As the man drives, he continues to kiss the woman but tells her to stop when she aggressively grabs hold of his shirt collar. The video cuts to the woman seemingly performing oral sex on the driver as he looks at directions and drives the car.

Manuel can then be heard telling

the driver to pull over so he can exit the car. In a Facebook post, Manuel clarified that his ride wasn’t an UberPool and said he thought maybe the front seat passenger was a family member. He wrote: “As I approached my Uber, I noticed there was a passenger in the front seat. I double checked to make sure I didn’t select UberPool, and then approached the car. “I assumed it may have been a family member of some

where I was, so I had to stay in the car. She then proceeded to perform oral sex. “This was my last straw. I asked the driver to drop me off. Since I’ve contacted Uber and they refunded me for trip and gave me a $10 credit.

“They’ve seen this video and are still investigating. They have been extremely bad at answering any messages I’ve sent, and I demand something gets done. This is not okay!”

Speaking to Esquire, Manuel, a

sort. As we pulled off the female in the front (who was clearly on drugs) attempted to open the door and could not even sit straight as the vehicle was in motion.” Manuel continued: “She then began to grope him and grab him. They began to kiss and she began loosening his belt. “As we got further and further from my pickup location I had no idea

retail worker from Boston, said he got into the car although someone else was in it because it was late and he was in an unfamiliar city. He said: “I figured it was a family member or something. I think he assumed at that time of night I was too intoxicated to notice what was going on.” The retail worker added that the woman,

who he said was “clearly on drugs” tried to open the moving car’s doors a few times before becoming sexual with the driver. An Uber spokesperson said in an email to the DailyMail.com: “The behaviour of this former driver is appalling and is not tolerated on the Uber app. “As soon as this situation was reported to us, we immediately removed this driver’s access.”

Facebook and Twitter users have agreed with Manuel and are shocked by the video. Many claim the incident is disgusting and said it is another reason not to use Uber. Others demanded for Uber to do something and for action to be taken against the driver in question. This is the latest scandal to hit the company, following the resignation of exCEO Travis Kalanick in June.

The resignation sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley and left Uber’s board of directors with the problem of finding a dynamic leader who also has a steady hand needed to heal Uber after a bruising six months. Kalanick’s brashness has been blamed for a string of

N Korea tests ballistic missile that can hit US Experts say Pyongyang can now hit New York, LA and Chicago KIM Jong-un has issued a ‘stern warning’ to the US after experts claim he now has the capability to hit New York, Los Angeles and Chicago with nuclear missiles. The North Korean leader said on Saturday that the second flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Friday demonstrated his country can hit the US mainland. Had it been fired at a standard trajectory, the rocket could have reached Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago and would have even had New York and Boston within its sights, according to analysts. Kim expressed ‘great satisfaction’ after the Hwasong-14 missile reached a height of 2,314 miles and traveled 620 miles before accurately landing in waters off Japan.

The test was aimed at confirming the maximum range and other technical

aspects of the missile it says was capable of delivering a ‘largesized, heavy nuclear warhead’. Pyongyang’s continuing development of nuclear weapons is a growing cause of concern for leaders in the United States, South Korea and Japan. In a show of force against the dictator and his military, the United States and South Korea held a joint missile exercise in response. Although Kim Jong-un hasn’t expressed a strong desire to attack mainland Europe, the new analysis would suggest London, Paris, Berlin and Rome are all within range although the missiles would have to soar above land as opposed to the Pacific and negotiate the earth’s rotation.

David Wright from the Union of Concerned Scientists said, “Based on current information, Friday’s missile test by North Korea could easily reach the US West Coast and a number

of major US cities.” The ICBM was launched at a lofted trajectory allowing it to fall in the Sea of Japan with a ground range of around 600 miles. Reports

suggest the maximum altitude of the launch was 2,300 miles and that it flew for 47 minutes. Wright added, “If those numbers are correct, the missile flown on a standard trajectory the missile would have a range 10,400 km (6,500 miles), not taking into account the earth’s rotation. However, the rotation of the earth increases the range of missiles fired eastward, depending on their direction.

“It is important to keep in mind that we do not know the mass of the payload the missile carried on this test.”

scandals this year, from the unearthing of a culture of sexism and bullying at Uber to a Department of Justice federal investigation and a highstakes lawsuit filed by Alphabet Inc’s autonomous car division, Waymo, that threatens Uber’s selfdriving car ambitions.

Protests queer the pitch for US Prez HUNDREDS of angry protesters took to the streets of New York City, Washington, DC, and San Francisco on Wednesday night after President Donald Trump announced his shocking ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces, calling the cost of transgender healthcare in the military as a “burden”. Crowds gathered at a plaza named after the late San Francisco gay rights activist Harvey Milk to protest Trump’s ban.

Demonstrators waved pink and blue flags and held signs bearing slogans: “Trans lives are not a burden.” As they took to the streets and gathered in front of the plaza, they could be heard chanting: “Stand up! Fight back!” A transgender woman who identified herself only as Layla said she’s tired of being told who she can or cannot be, and asked for others in the LGBTQ community to support trans people as they fight for respect. Doug Thorogood and Nick Rondoletto, a couple from San Francisco, waved a rainbow flag and held a sign that read: “The only reason transgenders are being banned from the military is for bigotry.” “Haven’t transgender people gone through enough? I’m over it!” Thorogood said, as they marched with the crowd from the Castro neighbourhood to City Hall.

Crowds swarmed the famed US Army Recruitment center in Times Square with “resist” and “rise up” signs in a show of defiance against the president’s announcement.

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Health Celiac disease more common in diabetic children, says study

New Delhi Celiac disease (CD) is more common in young people with type 1 diabetes than in diabetesfree kids, although how often the two conditions occur together varies in different countries, a new study finds.

“Celiac disease is not uncommon in type 1 diabetes, and regular screening is important,” the study’s lead author Dr. Maria Craig, from UNSW Medicine in Kensington, New South Wales, Australia, said.

Shared genetic risk is the major reason why CD is more common in type 1 diabetes patients, she added.

In type 1 diabetes, a chronic autoimmune condition typically diagnosed in children and young adults, the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone the body needs to help convert blood sugar into energy for cells.

In CD, which is also an autoimmune disorder, consuming the protein gluten in wheat, barley or rye leads to damage of the small intestine that interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.

About 5 percent of people with type 1 diabetes have CD, compared to about 1 percent of the overall population, Craig and her colleagues write in Diabetes Care. To see if this is true

‘Lipstick effect’ may boost your grades New York Ladies, take note! Wearing lipstick may help you feel smarter and boost cognitive performance, say scientists who found that women who wear makeup are more likely to score higher academic grades.

Researchers, including those from Harvard University in the US, studied how academic performance were affected by the so-called “lipstick effect” - a psychological phenomenon in which wearing cosmetics can make an individual feel a sense of overall enhancement in selfesteem, attitude, and personality.

Cosmetics have a welldocumented effect on wearers’ psychology, in that the wearer feels more physically attractive and enjoys a consequent higher sense of self- esteem, researchers said.

However, a less well-known effect of this boost in selfesteem is that cognitive abilities may also be influenced, in that they are improved by positive

emotions.

Researchers devised a psychological experiment in which female undergraduates were sorted into groups and given a series of tests.

The test comprised of answering multiple choice questions about a chapter from a general psychology textbook. Before each of the three groups took the test, they all undertook a different mood-influencing task.

uniformly around the world, they looked at the prevalence of CD in four different registries of type 1 diabetes patients in Germany/ Austria, the U.S., the UK and Australasia. The analysis included data from 2013 and 2014 on 52,721 children and teens under age 18.

Overall, 3.5 percent of the young people with diabetes in the study had CD, and the prevalence ranged from 1.9 percent in the U.S. to 7.7 percent in Australia.

Girls were more likely to have CD than boys, at 4.3 percent versus 2.7 percent, respectively.

On average, the children who had CD had been diagnosed with diabetes when they were 5.4 years old, compared to diagnosis at age 7 for children without CD. While blood sugar control was just as good for the children with CD as for those without CD, the study found that children with CD were likely to be shorter. ”While the overall difference was modest, some children demonstrated important differences in height, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis and treatment,” Craig said.

Do you work long hours? You may be at a risk of heart disease!

New Delhi Different professions across the globe require people to work

odd, sometimes bizarre hours.

Various studies have shown and we’re sure you have felt it too that long working hours often tend to cause an imbalance within your system and lead to health issues, whether or not you are already suffering from a disease.

Even though some may feel comfortable with them, your health is ultimately bearing the brunt of the changes in your body-clock and lifestyle.

Echoing previous studies, a new study has emphasised the negative effects of working long hours, saying that those who

work long hours on a regular basis have a higher risk of heart disease.

Researchers discovered that long working hours is linked to atrial fibrillation, the Metro reported. It is a condition which causes the heart to pace abnormally or at an irregular rate. If the condition worsens it can cause a stroke or even heart failure, the report warned. As per the Deccan Chronicle, the research team examined 85,000 people who did not have atrial fibrillation. They found that 1,000 participants developed the condition within 10 years.

Those “working more than 55 hours a week” were more likely to develop the condition.

“We showed that employees working long hours were 40% more likely to develop this cardiac arrhythmia than those working standard hours,” the study’s team is quoted is saying by the Metro.

Working long hours has previously been associated with depression, anxiety, obesity and excessive alcohol consumption.

Men, take note! Excessive sugar intake may lead to anxiety, depression New Delhi Sugar is a terrible addiction. Not many would be aware of this fact, but sugar is far more addictive than cocaine.

Excessive intake of sugar has been known to cause numerous health issues. Echoing the same, a new study has warned men about the dangers of too much sugar.

As per the study, eating too many sweets may make you anxious and depressed, thereby increasing the risk of common mental disorders in men.

“High sugar diets have a number of influences on our health but our study shows that there might also be a link between sugar and mood disorders, particularly among men,” said Anika Knuppel from University College London in the UK. “There are numerous factors that influence chances for mood disorders, but having a diet high in sugary foods and drinks might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Knuppel said.

The scientists came to this conclusion after they analysed the sugar intake from sweet food and beverages and occurrence of common mental disorders in more than 5,000 men and over 2,000 women for a period of 22 years between 1983 and 2013.

The team categorised daily sugar intake from sweet food and beverages into three similar sized groups. They found that men who consumed more than 67 grammes, had a 23 percent increased chance of incident common mental disorders after

five years, compared to those in the bottom third, who consumed less than 39.5 grammes.

Researchers also found that men and women with mood disorders and high sugar consumption also had an increased chance of being depressed again after five years compared to those with lower intakes. “Sweet food has been found to induce positive feelings in the short-term. People experiencing low mood may eat sugary foods in the hope of alleviating negative feelings,” Knuppel said.

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Babies can identify socially dominant people

Washington Toddlers as young as 17 months can perceive who is dominant and are aware that such people receive more rewards, say scientists who found that social hierarchy is naturally ingrained in infants.

“This tells us that babies are sorting through things at a higher level than we thought,” said Jessica Sommerville, professor at University of Washington (UW) in the US. “They’re attending to and taking into consideration fairly sophisticated concepts,” Sommerville said.

“If, early on, you see that someone who is more dominant gets more stuff, and as adults, we see that and say that’s how the world is, it might be because these links are present early in development,” she said.

The study evaluated reactions of 80 toddlers who watched three short videos of puppets in simple social situations.

Researchers measured the

length of time children focused on the outcome of each video in an effort to determine what they noticed.

Measuring a baby’s “looking time” is a common metric used in studies of cognition and comprehension in infants, researchers said.

“Really young babies can’t talk to us, so we have to use other measures such as how long they attend to events, to gauge their understanding of these events,” said Elizabeth Enright, a graduate student at UW. “Babies will look longer at things they find unexpected,” said Enright. For the study, each toddler watched an introductory video at least six times. This brief clip aimed to establish the “dominant” puppet in the scene - the one who appeared to win a minor competition with a second puppet over a special chair.

Then each child watched a second set of videos so that researchers could compare how the toddler reacted to various

Corked bottles or screw capped?

Oxford scientists set to find out which wine tastes better!

New Delhi Wine is a drinker’s delight – a taste that only connoisseurs can decipher and love. Many people around the world love to wash down their meal with a glass of red or white.

However, whether wine in corked or screw capped bottles tastes better has been a longstanding debate, which Oxford scientists have finally decided to resolve.

In a unique wine tasting event in London last week, researchers studied the brains of volunteers while they took a sip of different wines.

Taste, like other senses, is

subjective and may vary from person to person. Researchers from Oxford University in the UK decided to attach sensors on the heads of tasters while they sip.

The sensors monitor brain pleasure responses and translate them into numbers that can be used for comparison purposes. The researchers will also be looking at other factors that might be related to how we register the taste of wine, such as whether hearing the cork pop induces greater enjoyment or if smelling the wine before drinking has any impact, ‘Phys.Org’ reported.

outcomes.

The researchers employed puppets, rather than people, for the videos because the puppets look essentially the same, offer no facial or other emotional reaction, and don’t draw an infant’s attention the way that differences among humans might, said Sommerville.

The researchers set up three narrative scenarios using the puppets. In one scenario, a clip showed the dominant puppet receiving more Legos, while another clip showed both puppets receiving the same number.

In the other scenario, a clip again showed the puppets receiving the same number of Legos, while a different clip showed the submissive puppet receiving more.

The study found that toddlers looked an average of 7 seconds longer at the videos in which the weaker puppet received more Legos, or when the two puppets received the same number, versus when the dominant puppet received more Legos.

This indicates that the children did not expect those outcomes, Sommerville said.

The results demonstrated toddlers’ expectation that a dominant individual receives more resources and that toddlers are able to adjust their thinking about resource distribution based on their perceptions of social status of the recipients, researchers said.

Blue-lights from smartphones, other digital devices may impact your sleep, say researchers!

New Delhi Technological advancement has taken the world by storm and we humans have voluntarily become slaves to it.

In present times, there aren’t many people who can willingly spare a few minutes, let alone a whole day or a week, without their smartphones in their hands. We just have to have those slabs of metal within our sight at all times.

Many studies in the past have brought the negative effects of smartphone usage to the forefront, thereby raising concerns on the health of those who use them excessively.

The obsession for phones is such, that most people also use them while in bed at night after lights out.

Is that a wise thing to do? No. Researchers have found that blue-light emitting from digital devices may affect your sleep and cause sleep dysfunction.

The largest source of blue light is sunlight, but it’s also found in most LED-based devices.

Blue light boosts alertness and regulates our internal body clock or circadian rhythm, that tells our bodies when to sleep.

This artificial light activates photoreceptors called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which suppresses melatonin.

Lead researcher of the study recommends limiting screen time, applying screen filters, wearing computer glasses that block blue light or use antireflective lenses to offset the effects of artificial light at nighttime. “By using blue blocking glasses we are decreasing input to the photoreceptors, so we can improve sleep and still continue to use our devices,” said Lisa Ostrin, Assistant Professor at the University of Houston. The participants of the study, published in the journal Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, wore short wavelengthblocking glasses three hours before bedtime for two weeks, while still performing their nightly digital routine.

Male infertility was ‘treated’ even in medieval times London Male infertility was recognised, diagnosed and ‘treated’ as far back as the 13th Century, say scientists who found medieval texts describing medical tests and ‘cures’ for childlessness for men. Researchers from University of Exeter in the UK analysed popular medical and religious books from the 13th century, and found that widelycirculated medical texts recognised the possibility of male infertility, including sterility and ‘unsuitable seed’.

A urine test to determine if a husband or a wife was to blame for the absence of children in a marriage was devised, and medical recipes drawn up as a treatment for men. It has been widely assumed that women in medieval England were blamed for childlessness and religious discourse about infertility focused on women. If men were deemed responsible for the failure of a couple to produce children, this was in cases of sexual dysfunction where it was obvious the man was unable to have intercourse.

Researchers found that in 13th15th century England male

infertility was viewed as a possibility, not only among those who had studied medicine at a university and could read Latin but among less-educated sections of society reading texts in English.

“Although medical texts tended to devote most space to female infertility, male infertility was nonetheless regularly discussed as a possible cause of childlessness in academic texts and by educated medieval medical practitioners,” said Catherine Rider, a historian at University of Exeter.

Researchers found texts written in the vernacular contained references to male sterility as a possible cause of a woman failing to conceive.

Learned Latin texts were translated, adapted and added to, even influencing English recipe collections which included remedies for childlessness.

For example a 12th century gynaecological treatise entitled the Trotula, by an anonymous author, was circulated widely and translated into English and French.

It states that “conception is impeded as much by the fault of the man as by the fault of the women”. This widely read book on women’s medicine went on to describe male reproductive disorders as being about less visible forms of “sterility” as well as problems relating to erections and emission of sperm.

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MOZZARELLA STICKS

Ingredients: 1 lb. block mozzarella cheese, cut into 3-inch by 1/2-inch sticks 3/4 cup flour 4 eggs, lightly beaten 2 cups Italian bread crumbs 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 tbsp. unsalted butter 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped 1 tbsp. tomato paste 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand 1 tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. chile flakes Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, canola oil, for

frying Instructions: Place the flour, eggs, and bread crumbs in separate shallow dishes. Working with 1 piece of mozzarella at a time, dredge in flour, dip in eggs, and coat in breadcrumbs; repeat this process one more time. Lay on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use. Heat olive oil and butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high; add garlic and onion and cook until soft, about 6 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook 2 minutes more, then add tomatoes, sugar, chile flakes, salt, and pepper; cook until thick, 15-18 minutes. Keep marinara sauce warm. Heat 2” canola oil in a 6quart saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°; working in batches, fry mozzarella until golden and crisp, about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer mozzarella sticks to paper towels to drain; serve hot and with marinara sauce.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES Ingredients: 4 1/4 cups flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. kosher salt 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar 3 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 (12-ounce) bags semi-sweet chocolate chips Instructions: Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of a hand mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth; beat in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients, and beat until just combined; stir in chocolate chips. Roll cookies into about 20 4-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 4-inches apart. Re-

CRISPY SMASHED ZA’ATAR POTATOES

Ingredients: 2 1/2 lb. baby Yukon gold potatoes Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup olive oil 3 tbsp. za’atar Lemon wedges, for serving Instructions: Heat the oven to 425°.

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water by 1-inch. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat to medium and cook the potatoes until tender, about 10 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and then spread them on a baking sheet. Using the palm of your hand, lightly press the potatoes to flatten them. Transfer the potatoes to a roasting pan and drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt, and pepper. Bake the potatoes, flipping once halfway through cooking, until crispy, about 45 minutes.

Transfer the pan to a rack and sprinkle the potatoes with za’atar. Transfer the potatoes to a platter and serve warm with lemon wedges.

PINEAPPLE SALSA HOT DOG

frigerate for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350°. Bake cookies, rotating pans halfway through, about 15 minutes. Cool before serving.

ALMOND GRANITA Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups whole milk 1/2 cup slivered, blanched almonds, toasted 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup canned almond paste 1/2 tsp. almond extract Pomegranate seeds and toasted sliced almonds, to garnish Instructions: In a blender, combine the milk with the slivered almonds, sugar, almond paste, and almond extract and purée

until smooth. Pour the almond milk into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, cover the dish with plastic wrap, and place in the freezer.

Using the tines of a fork, stir the mixture every 30 minutes, scraping edges and breaking up any ice chunks as the mixture freezes, until the granita is slushy and frozen, about 3 hours. Scoop the granite into chilled serving glasses and garnish with pomegranate seeds and sliced almonds.

Ingredients: 6 oz. pineapple (about 1/ 4), peeled and cut into 1/ 4-inch pieces 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces 1 small shallot, finely chopped Zest and juice of 1 lime 7 oz. red cabbage (about 1/4), cored and thinly sliced 3 tbsp. white vinegar

Cilantro leaves, for serving Grilled hot dogs, for serving Grilled hot dog buns, for serving Instructions: Toss pineapple, avocado, shallot, zest, and juice in a large bowl.

Toss cabbage and vinegar in a bowl and let sit for 1015 minutes.

Top hot dog in a bun with pineapple salsa, cabbage, and cilantro leaves.

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Transgender soldiers take up arms against Trump’s ban remarks

DOZENS of transgender members of the US military have spoken out after President Donald Trump said they would be barred from serving “in any capacity” on Wednesday. “I would like to see them try to kick me out of my military,” US Air Force Staff Sgt. Logan Ireland told the

Air Force Times. A Marine military police officer who asked not to be named also told the Times: “I have never described myself as trans; I’m a motherf***ing Marine. That’s all that matters. Don’t tarnish my title with your bigotry and fear of the unknown.” During the last year of

the Obama administration, former defence secretary Ash Carter instituted a policy allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military. But he also gave the military a year to come up with a way to implement the policy. On Wednesday, Trump was intent on reversing that policy, sending out a series of tweets saying transgender people wouldn’t be allowed to serve in the US military. “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow.. transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming ... victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you,” Trump wrote. But Ireland vowed to continue, saying: “You are not going to deny me my right to serve my country when I am fully qualified and able and willing to give my life.” Army Reservist Rudy Akbarian, 26, said he would not leave the armed forces without a fight.

Now, he said: “Everybody is hurt.

Everybody is scared. This is people’s lives we’re talking about. People who enlisted nearly 20 years ago and now 18 or 19 years in, now that’s being taken away and they don’t get to retire?” Blake Dremann, 36, a transgender, active-duty Navy lieutenant commander in Washington, said he will continue to serve “regardless of what was said today”.

“Trans service members are continuing to do our jobs,” said Dremann, president of SPARTA, a trans advocacy group.

Combat veteran Shane Ortega, who served in the Army and Marines for more than a decade, said: “My immediate reaction was this is a completely egotistical move on behalf of Donald Trump.”

Duterte accused of Top atheist questions ban after anti-Muslim comments inciting war crimes

A ROW over free speech has broken out between scientist Richard Dawkins and a California radio station after a planned speech was cancelled. The British biologist, a renowned atheist, had been due to speak at an event hosted by Berkeley-based station KPFA about his latest book. But the speech was pulled, with organisers citing ‘hurtful’ statements made by Dawkins about Islam. It is not known what specific remarks prompted the cancellation, but online commentators have drawn attention to a 2013 tweet in which the writer described Islam as ‘the greatest force for evil in the world today’.

Dawkins himself has hit back, saying his issue is with Islamism, and pointing out that he has never been

barred from events because of his criticism of Christianity. A statement from KPFA said, “We had booked this event based entirely on his excellent new book on science, when we didn’t know he had offended and hurt — in his tweets and other comments on Islam — so many people. “KPFA does not endorse hurtful speech. While KPFA emphatically supports serious free speech, we do not support abusive speech. We apologise for not having had broader knowledge of Dawkins’s views much earlier. We also apologise to all those inconvenienced by this cancellation.”

In an open letter, Dawkins responded to the radio station, “If you had consulted me, or if you had done even rudimentary fact-checking, you would have concluded that I have never used abusive speech against Islam. “I have called Islamism ‘vile’ but surely you, of all people, understand that Islamism is not the same as Islam. “I have criticised the ridiculous pseudoscientific claims made by Islamic apologists (the sun sets in a marsh, etc), and the opposition of Islamic scholars to evolution and other scientific truths.”

PHILIPPINES President Rodrigo Duterte faces calls to retract a statement in which he threatened to bomb schools he claimed were teaching children to become Communist rebels. In a press conference following his annual state of the union speech on Monday, Duterte made the threats against Maoist sympathisers, alleging schools were operating under guerrilla control. He ranted: “I will bomb those schools. I will use the Armed Forces, the Philippine Air Force… because you’re operating illegally and you’re teaching the children to rebel against government.” Duterte has been warned by Human Rights Watch that carrying the threat through would be a war crime. The US-based humanitarian group organisation said international law “prohibits attacks on schools and other civilian structures unless they are being used for military purposes”, adding, deliberate attacks on civilians, including students and teachers, “is also a war crime”. Left-wing Rep Emmi de Jesus, of the Gabriela Women’s Party, urged the president to retract the threat, saying government troops may use it as

a pretext to attack indigenous, or Lumad, schools and communities in the country’s south which have come under threat from pro-military militias in recent years.

Angered by recent communist rebel attacks on government forces, including a gunbattle last week that wounded five members of his elite presidential guards, Duterte has called off peace talks with the Maoist guerrillas and threatened their perceived sympathisers. In his news conference, Duterte condemned the insurgents for destroying bridges and torching schools in the countryside. But he said the rebels were sparing Lumad schools, which he alleged were operating under guerrilla control without government permits. Carlos Conde, of Human Rights Watch, said Duterte, by calling for an attack on schools, “is directing the military to commit war crimes”. He urged Duterte to sign a 2015 international political statement, the Safe Schools Declaration, that commits governments to supporting the protection of students, teachers and schools in times of armed conflict.