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THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 734, 29 AUG. - 4 SEPT., 2017 PH: (905) 671 - 4761

As Dera chief gets 20 years in jail, husband of adopted daughter claims she cheated on him with Ram Rahim

COLOURFUL cult leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in jail for rape, also had sexual relations with his adopted daughter, the woman’s estranged husband has claimed to this paper. Vishwas Gupta had also moved court in 2011, accusing the Baba of having illicit relations with his wife, Honeypreet, and had sought her judicial custody. Authorities of the

Survey fears Trump may drag America into war TWO-THIRDS of US registered voters fear that President Donald Trump’s “words and actions could get us accidentally involved in an international conflict”, according to a new poll. The George Washington

University Battleground Poll, released Thursday, also found that more than seven out of 10 believe his “behaviour is not what I expect from a president”.

While more people support Trump’s job performance Continued on Page 4

Dera Sacha Sauda sect led by Ram Rahim had then rejected the allegations, terming them concocted and baseless.

This reporter tried to speak to Dera spokesperson Dr Aditya Insan, but his phone was switched off. The sect’s lawyer SK Garg Narwana did not respond to calls. “I was staying at the goofa (cave), private room of Baba ji. My wife was with him. He had inadvertently left the door open. Continued on Page 20-21

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German nurse killed at least 90 patients with lethal drug overdoses, say police

Berlin A male nurse jailed for life two years ago, for killing two hospital patients with lethal drug overdoses, murdered at least 90 patients in total and possibly twice as many, police said on Monday, calling it post-war Germany’s worst killing spree.

Niels Hoegel, 40, was jailed in February 2015 for two murders and four counts of attempted murder or causing bodily harm on intensive care patients at the Delmenhorst hospital near the northern city of Bremen.

Police said forensics experts had since exhumed and analysed more than 130 additional bodies and found evidence of a vastly higher death toll at two hospitals where Hoegel had worked between 1999 and 2005.

“The insights we were able to gain are terrifying, they surpass what we could have imagined,” said Johann Kuehme, police chief in the city of Oldenburg, where the other hospital is located.

The death toll “is unique in the history of the German republic”, said the chief police investigator

Polish tourist gangraped on Italian beach, boyfriend beaten and robbed Rome Italian police are investigating the suspected gang rape of a Polish tourist and the savage beating of her partner on Italy’s popular Rimini beach.

Italian news reports said the man passed out after being beaten on the head and robbed and his partner was repeatedly raped by four men early Saturday on a secluded stretch of beach in the Adriatic town on Italy’s eastern coast.

Media reports said the 26-yearold Poles were hospitalised with injuries. Passers-by called police after seeing the couple, bloodied and dazed, on the beach. Italian police have described the attack as “brutal and bestial”, according to a report.

It wasn’t immediately clear if any suspects had been detained.

A teenage British tourist was raped on the same beach last year, The Daily Mail reported on Sunday. The girl had gone to the beach with a man who attacked and raped her. A 19-year-old man was arrested later.

in the case, Arne Schmidt, adding that Hoegel killed “without a discernable pattern” and preyed especially on those in critical condition.

There was “evidence for at least 90 murders, and at least as many (suspected) cases again that can no longer be proven”, he told a news conference, declaring himself “speechless” at the outcome.

Hoegel has admitted to injecting patients with drugs that can cause heart failure or circulatory collapse so he could then try to revive them and, when successful, shine as a saviour before his medical peers.

He earlier testified that at times he acted out of “boredom”, that he felt euphoric when he managed to bring a patient back to life, and devastated when he failed.

Murderous obsession After the revelations, police and prosecutors three years ago launched a special forensic commission dubbed “Kardio” (Cardio) to look into other patient deaths.

Presenting their findings, police said on Monday that 134 bodies had been exhumed and tested for traces of the deadly drugs, and that police also reviewed scores of medical records and questioned hundreds of witnesses.

The cause of death in many cases could not be determined because the bodily remains had been cremated, said Kuehme.

The grisly revelations date back to June 2005, when a female nurse witnessed Hoegel trying to inject a patient at the Delmenhorst hospital.

The patient survived and Hoegel was arrested. In June 2008, he was sentenced to seven-and-ahalf years in jail for several cases of attempted murder.

Amid the media publicity, a woman then contacted police, voicing suspicion that her deceased mother had fallen victim to the killer nurse. The authorities exhumed several patients’ bodies and detected traces of the drug in five of them, declaring it either the definitive or possible contributing cause.

Hoegel was jailed for life in 2015, but at the time it was clear he had murdered many more patients, with investigators admitting they may never know the true number.

Several senior medical staff at Delmenhorst also face separate trials for having failed to act speedily over the high number of suspicious deaths when Hoegel was on duty, while investigations continue at the Oldenburg clinic.

‘Tired of eating human flesh’: Five suspected cannibals in South African court

Johannesburg Five South African men charged over suspected cannibalism appeared briefly in court on Monday as scores of angry protesters gathered outside, police said.

The men from the rural town of Escourt, in KwaZulu-Natal province, were arrested over a week ago after one handed himself in to a police station, telling officers he was “tired of eating human flesh”.

His confession led to the arrest of his four co-accused.

“All the five men appeared in court on Monday for a bail hearing but opted to abandon their bail application,” police spokeswoman Thembeka Mbhele told AFP. The accused, all in their 30s, are charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of human parts.

The grisly case, which has rocked the small town, has raised concerns about witchcraft and traditional medicine, as one of the arrested is reported to be

a witch doctor.

According to the police, the first suspect walked into Escourt police station on August 18 with a bag containing a human leg and a hand.

He told officers on duty that he had eaten human flesh and he led them to a house where more human remains were found.

“At this stage we don’t know who these body parts belong to. We are still awaiting DNA results,” said Mbhele.

“We are also investigating how long has this been going on for and how many people have been killed,” she said.

Local media reported that police have linked the case to the killing of at least one woman in the area.

Some local people have also suggested that the men had dug up dead bodies from graves.

Outside Estcourt Magistrates’ court where the men appeared, a crowd waved placards condemning the alleged crimes.

South African media reported that one of the men wept uncontrollably in court.

‘Welcome to the world!’ Zuckerberg announces birth of second daughter in FB post San Francisco Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday announced that his wife Priscilla Chan has given birth to their second daughter and posted a photo of his family saying that he and his wife “are optimists about your generation and the future”.

“Priscilla and I are so happy to welcome our daughter August! We wrote her a letter about the world we hope she grows up in, and also hoping she doesn’t grow up too fast,” he posted on his Facebook page.

In the letter to her new-born daughter, Zuckerberg said: “Dear August, Welcome to the world! Your mom and I are so excited to see who you will become.”

“When your sister was born, we wrote a letter about the world we hoped she and now you will grow up in — a world with better education, fewer diseases,

stronger communities, and greater equality. We wrote that with all the advances in science and technology, your generation should live dramatically better

about childhood. “The world can be a serious place. That’s why it’s important to make time to go outside and play.”

“You will be busy when you’re

lives than ours, and we have a responsibility to do our part to make that happen. Even though headlines often focus on what’s wrong, we still believe these positive trends will win out,” he said.

He said rather than write about growing up, they want to talk

older, so I hope you take time to smell all the flowers and put all the leaves you want in your bucket now. I hope you read your favorite Dr Seuss books so many times you start inventing your own stories about the Vipper of Vipp.”

“Childhood is magical. You only

get to be a child once, so don’t spend it worrying too much about the future. You’ve got us for that, and we’ll do everything we possibly can to make sure the world is a better place for you and all children in your generation.”

“August, we love you so much and we’re so excited to go on this adventure with you. We wish you a life of joy, love and the same hope you give us,” he said.

When Maxima Chan Zuckerberg (“Max”), Zuckerberg’s elder daughter, was born in 2015, he shared a letter and announced the creation of the ChanZuckerberg Initiative.

According to Mashable, Zuckerberg revealed earlier this month he would be taking two months paternity leave this year.

Facebook allows employees to take four months off. Zuckerberg will be taking a month off now and another month off later this year.

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Karti to soon return for CBI grilling THE Central bureau of Investigation (CBI) has prepared separate rooms and a list of questions to decode the link between former finance minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti and other accused involved in a corruption case of alleged clearance given

to INX media , owned by Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani, for bringing foreign funds into their venture. The second round of interrogation at the CBI headquarters lasted for eight hours as Karti arrived at around 11.30am and left late in the evening.

The CBI sleuths quizzed Karti and his three associates, Bhaskar Raman, Ravi Vishwanathan and Mohanan Rakes, separately, and asked them to reappear with documents. “A separate set of questions were asked to all of them and each one of them were grilled separately.

Now there statements will be verified and a money trail link between them will be check. Some fresh documents have been demanded from them, which they will submit with us soon,” said a senior CBI official. The agency is examining Karti in connection with a Foreign Investment

Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to media group INX Media for receiving funds from Mauritius when his father P Chidambaram was the Union finance minister. The sources said a firm indirectly controlled by Karti received money from INX Media, run by the Mukerjeas, who are currently in jail, for the murder of Indrani’s daughter. Earlier, P Chidambaram had issued a strong statement in response to the CBI filing FIR against Karti, saying the government was using the CBI and other agencies to target his son.

The FIPB approval was granted in hundreds of cases, the senior Congress leader had said. On August 23, the CBI had grilled Karti for over eight hours and was asked close to 100 question related to the case.

Meanwhile, in an investigation related to terror funding, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday questioned Naeem Geelani and Naseem Geelani, sons of Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Geelani. The two brothers appeared at the NIA headquarters in Delhi. Beside Geelani’s sons, Ghulam Nabi Bhatt, a pro-freedom activist, was also questioned by the counter-terror agency. Meanwhile, the custody of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, who was arrested on charge of receiving funds from Pakistan to sponsor terror activities and stone-pelting in Kashmir, was also extended for five more days.

Indian-American helps with life-saving medication during Hurricane Harvey Houston When a Texas hospital called to request a rare disease medication, an IndianAmerican CEO of a pharmacy firm got it shipped to Houston from Orlando by sending one of his employees to pick it up as all logistics companies were unable

to deliver it overnight due to Hurricane Harvey.

Harish Katharani, founder and CEO of Southside Group of Companies, said Impavido — the only oral treatment drug used for critically ill patients with Leishmaniasis — costs about $49,000 and hence is not readily stocked by pharmacies.

Kathrani sent one of his employee to get the drug shipped to Texas Children’s Hospital in the midst of Harvey, the most powerful hurricane to hit the US mainland in 13 years.

Harvey has left a trail of destruction across Texas, pummelling the region with heavy rains. Around 13 million people have been battling catastrophic flooding in Texas.

In another incident, Medicare

Advantage provider TexanPlus contacted Southside’s Texas Medical Centre to inquire if the firm could provide services to their patients during the hurricane weekend.

Despite not being contracted by this health maintenance organisation, Southside readily volunteered to provide healthcare services to their patients during this crisis.

TexanPlus circulated an internal memo letting their case workers know about Southside’s availability during Hurricane Harvey.

Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston’s executive director Jagdip Ahluwalia stated that he was proud that one of their Chamber members was going above and beyond the call of duty to serve the community in this hour of need.

Southside is a pharmacist owned and operated company established in 1992.

It ships specialty medication to over 35 states. Its pharmacies will remain open during the weekend’s regular hours but their pharmacist and nurses are on call 24/7 to help Texans tide over the troubles case by the hurricane.

Katharani, who came to the US in 1972, is a generous donor to various charitable organisations such as MS Society, HepC Clinic, Liver Foundations as well as to Cancer and HIV research institutions.

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Who is Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh?

The flamboyant chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, has been convicted of rape by an Indian court. The sect claims to have more than 60 million followers around the world and the 50-year-old godman is revered by his supporters, but he is no stranger to controversies.

In 2002, Singh was investigated by India’s federal police for murder and alleged rape, charges he has denied. He has also been accused of forcing 400 of his followers to undergo castration so they could “get closer to god”. He told the Times of India that the last charge was “cent-per-cent false. I never asked anyone to do so”.

Wikipedia describes Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as an Indian guru, music producer, actor and director. He has been

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the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) since 23 September 1990. The Indian Express placed Singh 96th in their list of the 100 most powerful Indians of 2015.

In his promotional videos, he glided through the air, dressed in pink robes and in real life was known to ride powerful, souped up bikes to his congregations.

His persona was as flashy as the vehicle itself.

But Friday was judgement day for Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who was convicted in a rape case and left two states in a state of siege. Some of that tinsel aura may fade for the ‘baba of bling’, who is not the regular godman in saffron but a curious amalgam of reel and real defying easy description.

Known as “Rockstar Baba”, Singh was often spotted in shiny, colourful clothes and has performed in half a dozen music videos. He also earned the nickname “Guru of Bling” because of his preference for ornate jewellery.

Based out of northern India, the sect runs 46 centres across India and the world. In the past, he has been criticised for mocking religious figures. In 2007, he antagonised the Sikh community when he appeared dressed like Guru Gobind Singh, a revered Sikh guru, in an advertisement.

In 2015, a Hindu organisation lodged a complaint against him over a video where he posed as the Hindu god Vishnu. Critics said that it had hurt their religious sentiments.

His Twitter profile describes him as “Spiritual Saint/Philanthropist/Versatile Singer/Allrounder Sportsperson/Film Director/Actor/ArtDirector/MusicDirector/ Writer/Lyricist/Autobiographer/DOP.” For his followers, who gathered in the thousands in Panchkula ahead of the verdict in the case of rape and criminal intimidation, their leader is all this and more. The bejeweled head of the Sirsaheadquartered sect, who turned 50 this Independence Day, holds sway over millions in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.

As curiosity grew about the man at the centre of the frenzied storm, Gurmeet, who drove to Panchkula in a large convoy

SUNNY BAINS

of scores of vehicles, put out a tweet appealing for peace and saying he would go to court even though he had a backache.

Early life and family Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was born on August 15, 1967 into a Jat Sikh family, at Sri Gurusar Modia village in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan. His father was a well-to-do landlord of the

area. An only child, Gurmeet helped his father in the farm in his early years.

Gurmeet, it is said, was always spiritual.

When he was seven, he was picked out

by Shah Satnam Singh, then head of the Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa, who anointed him Ram Rahim. Sixteen years later, On 23 September 1990, Satnam Singh invited his disciples from all over the country for a grand satsang where 23year-old Gurmeet Ram Rahim was chosen as his successor.

Sainthood and succession of the spiritual leadership was publicly conferred upon Gurmeet Ram Rahim at that time. He is married to Harjeet Kaur and has two biological daughters, an adopted daughter and a son. They all use Insan as their last name. His son Jasmeet is married to the daughter of Harminder Singh Jassi, a Punjab Congress leader. His adopted daughter Honeypreet Insan is a movie actress and director.

Ram Rahim was educated in a school in his village of Sri Gurusar Modia.

Singh was involved in a lot of

Survey fears Trump may drag America into war continued from page 1 on the economy than oppose it, majority disapproves of how he’s handling foreign affairs in general, 53 per cent, and North Korea crisis, 51 per cent. However, more than half say the president “has been keeping his campaign promises” and hold “Washington elites” responsible for holding up “reforms” in his agenda. The split shows that “more Americans object to Trump’s character than his agenda”, according to George Washington University professor Michael Cornfield. “If there is anything approaching a consensus in today’s sharply divided America, it’s that Trump speaks and behaves inappropriately given the office he holds”. His negatives among

voters could contribute to a wave election that benefits Democratic congressional candidates, judging from the new poll.

Asked which party’s candidate they would support if a congressional election were held today, 44 per cent chose a hypothetical Democrat. Just 38 per cent said they would choose a Republican. The president’s overall approval rating stands at 43 per cent, slightly higher than measurements in most other surveys.

Fifty-four per cent of voters say they disapprove of the job he’s doing. The poll surveyed 1,009 registered voters nationwide between August 13 and August 17. Its margin of error is percentage points.

controversies. Mainstream Sikh leaders have accused him of insulting their faith.

He was accused of rape, murder and forced castrations during his tenure as baba. On 25 August 2017, he was convicted of rape by a special CBI court.

Political influence Singh is known for political clout, as his Dera has a large number of followers among Dalits and other backward classes. His Dera Sacha Sauda is the only one among the various Deras, which openly asks its supporters to vote for particular political parties.

Singh originally supported the Indian National Congress.

Singh’s son is married to the daughter of the Congress leader Harminder Singh Jassi. The Dera Sacha Sauda supported Congress in the 2007 Punjab state elections and helped the party take control of the Malwa region. Before the 2012 Punjab state elections, the Congress leader Amarinder Singh, his wife Preneet Kaur and his son Raninder Singh visited Singh, asking him to extend his support to Congress. However, Dera’s support to Congress alienated the party’s Sikh vote bank. In the 2012 elections, Congress performed poorly and Jassi lost the election. The poor performance of Congress in Malwa in 2012 was seen as a signal of the downfall of Dera’s political power.

Before the 2014 Haryana state elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narendra Modi praised Singh in order to attract the Dera Sacha Sauda followers.

Singh supported the BJP in the state elections, thus helping BJP form a noncoalition government in the state for the first time. In February 2015, his organization openly supported BJP in Delhi elections, saying that he has over 2 million followers in Delhi. His organization supported BJP in the Bihar assembly election in 2015, and nearly 3,000 Dera followers campaigned for BJP in the state. In 2016, the Haryana sports minister Anil Vij announced a ¹† 5 million grant to the Dera for promoting sports in Singh’s presence, leading to a controversy.

Why is Punjab in turmoil?

Over the years, Singh has presented himself as a social reformer by organising cleanliness drives and blood donation camps. In 2010, the sect organised a mass marriage where more than 1,000 followers “volunteered” to marry sex workers.

His official website describes him as a “spiritual saint, philanthropist, versatile singer and all-rounder sportsperson”.

In recent years, he has also starred in films to add to his already larger-than-life image.

He has produced three films which have been released in several Indian languages after weeks of controversy. In the trailer for one of them, MSG: Messenger of God, Singh is seen performing daredevil stunts, fighting aliens, ghosts and elephants and taking on villains.

“His swagger is unmistakably Bollywood, enough to brand him the ‘baap’ [father] of all heroes,” according to a review of the movie in The Hindustan Times.

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Duterte says cops free to kill ‘idiots’ PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte told police on Monday they were free to kill ‘idiots’ who resist arrest, two days after the funeral of a boy who was gunned down and left next to a pigsty by anti-drugs officers. Duterte was delivering a speech at the Hero’s Cemetery on the outskirts of Manila and veered off-script to address impromptu comments from Jovie Espenido — the police chief of a town in the south where the mayor was killed in a raid. In a direct message to his police officers, he said: “Your duty requires you to overcome the resistance of the person you are arresting. If he resists, and it is a violent one, you are free to kill the idiots. That is my order to you.” It comes two days after Kian Delos Santos was laid to rest in a service that was hijacked by hundreds to protest

carrying out their duties. The Philippines leader unleashed the anti-drugs war after taking office in June last year following an election campaign in which he vowed to use deadly force to wipe out crime and drugs.

Thousands of people have been

against the leader’s deadly war unlawful killings’ were not on drugs. Duterte added that allowed and that police had to ‘murder and homicide and uphold the rule of law while

killed and the violence has been criticised by much of the international community.

Opposition has been largely muted but the killing of schoolboy Kian Delos Santos by antidrugs officers on August 16 has sparked rare public outrage.

Delos Santos was dragged by plainclothes policemen to a dark, trash-filled alley in northern Manila before he was shot in the head and left next to a pigsty, according to witnesses whose accounts appeared to be backed up by CCTV footage. Police say they acted in self defence after Santos opened fire on them, and Duterte’s spokesman and the justice minister have described

the killing of the teenager as an ‘isolated’ case. Since Duterte’s term began 14 months ago, police reported killing 3,500 people in anti-drug operations, with thousands more murdered over drug-related crimes and in unexplained circumstances.

Duterte and his drug war are backed by a large majority of Filipinos fed up with high crime and a slow-moving judicial system, according to national polls. Santos’ murder has sparked public outrage. After his family held a wake for him at home, around 3,000 people, including classmates, neighbours, priests and activists marched in protest.

Merkel has no regrets on migrant policies

GERMAN chancellor Angela Merkel has said she regrets nothing about her response to the migrant crisis of 2015.

More than a million people from across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East entered Germany two years ago after Mrs Merkel opened her country’s doors to Syrian refugees. Her party’s support dropped as a consequence and led to a surge in support for the rightwing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which pollsters say could win up to 10 percent in the September election. But in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, the chancellor said she would do everything ‘the same way again’ if she had the opportunity. “I’d make all important decisions of 2015 the same way again,” Merkel said. “It was an extraordinary situation and I made my decision based on what I thought was right from a political and humanitarian standpoint. Those kinds of extraordinary situations happen every once in a while in a country’s history. The head of government has to act and I did.” she said.

US highwater & hell Thousands of Americans trapped on rooftops ask desperately for rescue

THOUSANDS of people are trapped on their rooftops in flooded Houston and are desperately pleading for help after Hurricane Harvey left much of America’s fourth largest city underwater. Many residents have turned to social media with heartbreaking pleas for help as the Houston police department asked any civilians with boats to join them and assist with the

more than 6,000 calls for rescues. The storm has already dumped a historic 11 trillion gallons of water on Texas - with another 27 inches of rain falling so far and another 23 inches expected to come within the next few days. Experts said the aftermath of the catastrophic hurricane could equal the level of destruction of Katrina in 2005.

The storm has claimed the lives

at least five people and FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, revealed it would take the area years to recover from the storm which is the worst this decade. Galveston County alone estimates that up to 1,200 people had to be rescued from the “lifethreatening” waters on Sunday, as more trapped residents fled to rooftops trying to wave down emergency responders to be saved. Houston, the nation’s fourth largest city, was told by its mayor not to evacuate and thousands were forced to seek higher ground due to the rising waters. Members of the ‘Cajun Navy’ have set out from Louisiana with their private boats to help the rescue efforts in Texas after Hurricane Harvey flooded parts of the state. The ‘Cajun Navy’ is a

volunteer group of hundreds of boat owners who came together to help out their community during the Louisiana flood in the summer of 2016. On Sunday, the Houston Police Department made a call for volunteers on Twitter asking people with boats to call a number and help the department out. People frantically used Facebook to post photos of their dire situations and shared their location in hopes that they would be saved. One woman posted on behalf of her friend with five children who were stranded on a roof. The friend wrote: Anybody please my friend is losing faith she feels like they running out of time’. Since Thursday some parts of Houston have already received 25 inches of rain and some suburbs have gotten 27 inches. The National

Weather Service issued a forecast saying the city could get as much as 50 inches, which would be the highest amount ever recorded in Texas, adding: “The breadth and intensity of this rainfall is beyond anything experienced before.”

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375-year-old mummy had parasitic eggs in his tummy

Step taken in a bid to stop leadership challenge as she tries to calm rivals with a prosecco party at Chequers THERESA May is said to have revealed the date she will quit as Prime Minister – giving herself two years to see Brexit through first. She has chosen Friday August 30, 2019 as the day she will step down from 10 Downing Street, it has been reported. It comes amid a major charm offensive by May in a bid to win the support of her MPs and avoid an awkward leadership challenge. The prime minister has been inviting groups of 15 Tories to her official Chequers country residence — handing them prosecco and homemade chocolates at the door as they arrive, according to The Mirror.

Already more than a dozen Conservative politicians are said to have pledged to sign a letter calling for May to step down — although that falls far short of the 48 signatures needed to trigger a new leadership vote. One Tory MP said: “It’s clear she won’t lead us into another election and will be gone by September 2019.

She invited MPs to Chequers to ensure there isn’t a leadership contest in the meantime. Giving the dogs a stroke is better than giving them a kick, I suppose.”

But Downing Street has poured cold water on the reports, telling

MailOnline: “We have hit peak £74billion (6,100,825,845,000), deal with Britain cannot begin silly season.” It earlier emerged until the EU shows the legal until “sufficient progress” is made on the bill, the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and Northern Ireland. However, British officials believe Brussels will be forced into a climbdown as they think EU leaders will face a backlash from European businesses if they attempt to stall trade talks. A Whitehall source said: “It’s not just British businesses that want certainty.

Firms in Germany, France and across Europe will be lobbying their governments to get on with working towards a trade deal.”

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who said recently that Brussels should “go whistle” over that Brexit secretary David Davis justification for it. As tensions the divorce bill, told Radio 4’s is set to provoke a huge row with between the two sides Today programme that Britain Brussels by calling a halt to escalated, Brussels accused will meet its legal obligations to negotiations on Britain’s divorce Britain of “magical thinking” over the bloc but will pay “not a penny bill unless the EU provides a legal Brexit and suggested ministers more, not a penny less” than it basis for its hefty demands. The were willing to use the Northern has to. One EU official said there European Commission’s chief Ireland peace process as a was a risk that Brexit talks could negotiator Michel Barnier has bargaining chip in negotiations. completely break down if warned that Britain must be The EU has warned that Brexit progress is not made on ready to set out what it is willing talks will be paralysed unless agreeing the bill sooner rather to pay when the next round of Britain puts forward details of out than later. The official said: talks begin on Monday in how it thinks the divorce bill “During the last round, we made Brussels. But Davis will snub his should be worked out. Barnier is no progress. The UK recognised request and refuse further under orders from the 27 they have financial obligations but discussions on the demand, remaining EU countries that did not engage in identification of thought to be for around discussions on a future trade what these will be.”

A 375-YEAR-OLD mummified man who had parasitic liver infection was discovered in South Korea in the earlier case of the disease ever found. Researchers think that the man caught the infection by eating raw shellfish, which was considered a treatment for measles at the time.

The mummified man, named Jing Lee, died in 1642 aged 63, and researchers found a lump on his liver containing parasite eggs.

The research on the mummy, published in the Journal of Parasitology, was conducted by researchers based at the Seoul National University College of Medicine. It involved conducting a CTscan of the body, which revealed a lump on the liver. The body was excavated in 2014, in Cheongdo, South Korea, in a 17ht century tomb — where well preserved clothes were also found. The researchers decided to conduct a CT-scan of the mummy, after which they noticed the liver mass just below the right side of the diaphragm. The researchers then decided to perform an autopsy to get a close look at the mass. An incision was made in the anterior part of the torso, and the liver was carefully excised. They then autopsied the mass, and used a microscope to examine it revealing the eggs of a parasite named Paragonimus westermani. Paragonimus westermani is a parasitic fluke flatworm that can cause a disease called paragonimiasis.

Protesters: Columbus invaded America A RALLY was held in New York by those who wish to see the removal of a statue of Christopher Columbus from where it has stood since the 1892. The statue is currently under review by a special task force implemented by Mayor Bill de Blasio designed to remove “symbols of hate” in New York City. Friday night, demonstrators took to Columbus Circle where the statue is prominently displayed in a busy roundabout at the base of Central Park, carrying signs that read: “Columbus didn’t discover America he invaded it.” Another sign called the statue ‘A tribute to racism and genocide’. Columbus has been hailed in American-lore as discovering the new world on his expedition in 1492 on behalf on the Spanish empire. But critics note his cruel treatment of the native inhabitants of the Caribbean and South America and his active

participation in the slave trade. Mayor de Blasio’s call for reviews of various historical figures comes after the deadly events in Charlotesville, Virginia earlier this month where a rally was held to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. The rally turned deadly when a car plowed into a group of demonstrators, killing 34-year-old Heather Heyer, who was protesting white supremacists. On Friday morning at City Hall, there was another rally, this time for the Columbus statue to stay put. “It’s Columbus today and who knows who will be on this secret list tomorrow,” Staten Island Councilmen Joe Borelli said Thursday, according to CBS New York. “This is an unfortunate chapter in New York City’s history.” Comedian Joe Piscopo also spoke out about leaving the historical monument right where it is

at the rally attended by politicians, individuals and community groups.

“The one iconic symbol for ItalianAmericans was Christopher Columbus.

He’s flawed, we’re all flawed — hey, I’m flawed.

Does that mean I’m not gonna get a rest stop named after me on the Jersey Turnpike?” he said. “Stop the political correctness. The political correctness is killing us.” The statue was offered as a gift to New York by the city’s Italian community in 1892, and groups such as the NYPD Columbia Association, which includes thousands of Italian American police officers, are fighting to keep the statue in place. It’s not just Columbus who is under siege. A New York statue of Peter Stuyvesant has also become a target of ire, following the call for the removal of the statue of Christopher Columbus.

Issue - 734 (7)

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Black Money Row: Swiss Parliamentary Panel to Discuss Necessary Safeguards to Share Information With India Vienna/New Delhi A parliamentary panel in Switzerland is ready to discuss the necessary safeguards which the European nation needs to adapt in automatic exchange of b a n k i n g information with India and 40 other jurisdictions for checking alleged stashing of black money kept in Swiss banks. The parliamentary panel will discuss the issue next month.

The Committee on Economy and Royalties of the National Council (CER-N), a key panel of the Swiss parliament, has agreed to adopt it with 41 nations including India and will examine the criteria any country would need to satisfy to start getting access to data under the automatic information

Indonesian woman jailed for suicide bomb plot at Jakarta palace Jakarta A Jakarta court has sentenced a female wouldbe suicide bomber to seven and a half years in prison, prosecutors and her lawyer said, the first time a woman has been convicted in Indonesia for planning such an attack.

Dian Yulia Novi, 28, was arrested late last year on suspicion of plotting to blow herself up outside Jakarta’s presidential palace during the changing of the guard. She was arrested along with her husband, Muhamad Nur Solikin.

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has seen a surge in homegrown militancy inspired by Islamic State, and has grappled with a series of small-scale attacks in the past two years. Prosecutors had demanded a 10-year sentence for Novi, whom they said received instructions to carry out the attack from Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian militant believed to be fighting with Islamic State in Syria. “Her sentence was reduced because she admitted to her actions,” Novi’s lawyer Kamsi told Reuters on Monday. He said the verdict was handed down by East Jakarta District Court on Aug. 25. Judges delivered the verdict earlier than expected because Novi is pregnant and due to give birth in early September, her lawyer said.

exchange. The same panel had earlier rejected a proposal seeking to outrightly suspend implementation of the AEOI Switzerland, news agency PTI reported.

The CER-N will continue to examine on what 41 AEOIs agreed upon the Federal Council at a meeting held on September 11. AEOI is the highest decisionmaking body of the Swiss government. In this context, the panel will also discuss how to strengthen the role of the relevant parliamentary committees in deciding whether or not to transmit data abroad.

The Federal Council adopted a resolution on June 15 regarding the introduction of AEOIs with 41 jurisdictions including India. The decision is not subject to any referendum.

The council has also proposed to submit a report to Parliament in order to ensure that the necessary requirements, including on confidentiality and data protection, are met by the concerned countries before transmission of the

data. The report will also entail the possible measures in case of noncompliance. At its meeting on August 15, the committee rejected by 13 votes to 10, with 2

abstentions, a proposal to suspend implementation of AEOIs until the Federal Council presents a list of criteria for judging whether the exchange can be activated with a country.

The majority observed that the question of criteria could be examined in the context of the discussion by the article. The committee went into the matter, without objecting to the Federal Council decision, on the control mechanism. One of the demands, made by some political parties and banking industry, relates to asking the administration specific the criteria on which a country review would be based on deciding to transmit the data abroad. Among others, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), a populist political party in Switzerland, has opposed

the AEOI framework.

The opposition by SVP, which is known as a national- conservative and right-wing populist political party, is in sharp contrast to the official position of the Swiss government that has cited strong Indian data protection laws for agreeing to include India a m o n g jurisdictions for the Automatic exchange of information (AEOI) on financial matters.

It is one of the largest parties in the Federal Assembly and late last year it had supported a campaign, ‘Yes to protect bank secrecy in Switzerland’.

Earlier, some private bank groups in Switzerland had opposed the pact but the government decided to go ahead with this framework after putting in place necessary data protection and confidentiality clauses.

A draft memorandum has been already ratified by the Swiss Federal council for implementing the automatic information exchange framework with India, which is expected to come into force from next year. India has been pressing for long to have such a pact amid a widespread perception about Swiss banks being among the most-favoured for stashing of suspected black money.

13-year-old Indian-origin Boy Gets Top Score in Mensa IQ

London A 13-year-old Indian-origin boy in the UK has got the highest possible score of 162 on a Mensa IQ test, placing him in the top one per cent people in the world who achieved this feat.

Dhruv Garg, from Wokingham in south east England, was looking for something to occupy his time during the summer holidays and decided to try out for the intellectual society.

The schoolboy achieved 162 in his entry IQ test – the maximum possible, which places him in the top one per cent of people in the world, the Daily Mirror reported.

He also scored in the highest mark in the second test, known as the Culture Fair scale, getting 152.

This score qualifies him amongst the rare one per cent of the population who take the Mensa exam worldwide in both the exams.

Garg, who goes to Reading School, a grammar in Berkshire, has also been developing an app to combat social isolation by helping lonely people meet up.

The app connects people who live in the same area

who want to meet new people.

“I was just so surprised to get the result. I was looking for something to do over the summer holidays and so I thought I’d try taking the test, but did not expect to do so well,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to the new school year, I really like school and want to use the app to help people,” Garg said.

His mother, Divya, said the whole family is proud of their young prodigy, whoes favourite subjects are maths and chemistry.

“When he got the maximum score they told me it’s the highest mark possible but I didn’t realise what it meant. It was only when I spoke to Mensa that they told me I said ‘oh my God’ this is special, this is really something worth celebrating,” she said.

A keen cricketer and table tennis player, Garg can also complete a Rubik’s Cube in under 100 seconds.

“In year one was when we started to realise he was gifted as his teachers said he was very sharp and had to have special lessons, so all along he was always special.

Issue - 734 (8)

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Monetary Aid to Pakistan ‘Will be Conditioned’, Says Top White House Official

Washington After President Donald Trump’s comments on providing safe haven to terrorists in South Asia, a top official on Sunday said the United States’ monetary help to Pakistan in future will be conditioned.

The official alleged the intelligence agencies in Pakistan were acting in connivance with terror organisations. He said, “There have been long standing relationships between the Pakistani intelligence officials and these terrorist groups. So, we don’t expect things to change overnight.

We expect incremental changes over time.”

The official expected the results are expected to emerge sooner if Pakistan takes action against terror organisations. The officer was quoted by PTI on the conditions of anonymity.

He said, “We will be able to see when these changes start to

happen. They (might) not become immediately apparent to the public, but we’re confident that when Pakistan takes the steps we’re asking it to do, we’ll know it and we’ll be able to assess. And so, our security aid will be conditioned on the steps that we expect them to take against, in particular, the TalibanHaqqani Network.”

The official remarked the Trump administration has set a time line for progress in action being taken

by Pakistan against the terrorist groups. He said, “It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to give exact timelines that we’re dealing in.

But, certainly there is an expectation that we’ll start to see some changes in the very near future.”

Responding to the questions on remarks of President Donald Trump on Pakistan providing safe havens to terrorists, He said, “I think the President was

very clear that we are going to take a different approach to that stand. There’s a lot of frustration (in the US) with the continued safe havens in Pakistan. But we believe there is hope for greater cooperation from Pakistan on these issues.

He added “It’s Pakistan’s choice.

Pakistan has much to benefit from by cooperating with the US and cracking down on some of these groups.” Pakistan has much to lose if it fails to do so, the official warned.

The official refrained from commenting on future course of relationship with Pakistan. He said,”We’re not going to talk about the precise steps that the US is considering with regard to its relationship with Pakistan.

We’ll reserve that for our private discussions on Pakistan.

“We’ll just simply say that it’s extremely important to this administration that Pakistan take tangible steps against the groups that continue to support attacks against US service members and US officials in Afghanistan,” He added, “We think that Pakistan will see that it’s in its own interest to cooperate with the US. And that, when they’re thinking about their core security interests in Afghanistan, they will assess that they can better achieve those objectives by being in a cooperative relationship with the US, rather than a contentious relationship.

These are the kinds of conversations that we’re having with Pakistan,”

Malaysia Shows Indonesia’s Flag as Poland’s in Southeast Asian Games Guidebook; Twitteratti React

Jakarta As the Indonesian flag was printed upside down in souvenir guidebook of the Southeast Asian Games, Indonesia accused the Malaysian organisers of negligence. Due to this misprint, the red-and-white Indonesian flag looked like Poland’s flag. This led to anger in Indonesia and ‘shameonyoumalaysia’ started trending on Twitter.

The people in Indonesia took offence because the guidebook was distributed to VIPs on Saturday’s opening ceremony of the 29th Southeast Asian Games that took place in Kuala Lumpur.

In the guidebook, only

Indonesia’s flag was printed incorrectly.

On the blunder made by Malaysian organisers, Indonesia’s Olympic Committee chairman Erick Thohir said the mistake showed organisers’ negligence. He demanded the guidebook be withdrawn and a new version printed. Youth and Minister Imam Nahrawi of Indonesia said the error was very painful. The Malaysian Organizing Committee said its chairman and Malaysia’s minister would meet with Imam Nahrawi to apologize, reported The New Indian Express. In its statement, it said, “We very much regret the mistake”.

Blue Whale Challenge Claims First Life in Uttar Pradesh; 13-year-old Found Hanging

Doklam Standoff Over as India, China Agree to Withdraw Troops New Delhi Two-Months-long Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese forces near Sikkim border has come to an end with both sides agreeing to withdraw their troops from the site. The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement that troops will disengage near the Indo-China border.The MEA in a twoparagraph statement said that “India and China have maintained diplomatic communication in respect of the incident at Doklam.

During these communications, we were able to express our views and convey our concerns and interests.”

“On this basis, expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to and is on-going,” the statement read further.Meanwhile, the Chinese media is saying that it was the Indian side that was withdrawing its forces, claiming a diplomatic win.The Indian government had said that the Doklam standoff will be resolved peacefully amid

China’s aggressive posturing.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said that he hoped China would take steps to diminish tensions between the two countries. (Also read: Solution to Doklam stand-off to be found soon: Rajnath) The resolution came ahead of the important BRICS summit in China’s Xiamen City. Prime

Minister Narendra Modi will represent India at the summit, scheduled for September 3-5 to be held in Xiamen City of Southeast China’s Fujian Province. Experts say that China may have relented on its position on Doklam as its leadership didn’t want to host the Prime Minister of a major South Asian power in a hostile environment.

India and China have been at

loggerheads for the last two months on the issue of Doklam.

Doklam is situated in a no-man’s land facing India, Bhutan, and China on three sides. Bhutan and China have a dispute over the area as both claim it to be their territory. The standoff started when Indian troops intervened on the behalf of Bhutan and stopped China’s road construction activity in the area.

External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj informed Parliament that India’s security was stake as Chinese roads in Doklam will give the dragon strategic advantage as it will bring The Chicken’s Neck in Chinese range.

The Chicken’s Neck is the narrow piece of land that connects Sikkim with Indian mainland.

China had been trying to create a fear psychosis by pushing threatening articles in its statecontrolled media. China had maintained that it would not talk with the Indian administration until Indian troops were withdrawn from Doklam, which it claimed to be its territory.

Lucknow The fatal online Blue Whale game has claimed its first victim in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur district, police said on Monday.

Parth Singh, 13, was found hanging in his bedroom in Maudaha village on Sunday night.The police said the class sixth student had his father’s phone on his hand in which the game, that directs the player to commit suicide after 50 challenges, was on when the body was taken down.

According to the family, Parth had been playing Blue Whale game from the past few days.

When he was asked not to play, he started using his father’s mobile phone when he was not around or sleeping.

On Sunday evening, Parth was supposed to attend a friend’s birthday party but instead locked himself in the room.

An only child, when he did not open the door, his father Vikram Singh, broke open the door and found him hanging.

Maudaha circle officer (CO) Abhishek Yadav told IANS the suicide seems to have been triggered by the blue whale game and a probe is underway.

“We are sending IT experts to go through the mobile records and history,” he added.

The Director General of Police Sulkhan Singh, in a letter to all district police chiefs had asked for complete compliance to the order of the Union Government banning the dangerous game.

Issue - 734 (9)

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Class 9 Balbharati Textbook Says Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Was a Terrorist

Mumbai The Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbooks Production and Curriculum Research or Balbharati told the Bombay High Court that Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a militant leader of the Khalistan movement, has been mentioned as a terrorist in Class IX textbook only after much scrutiny. A petition in this regard, seeking the removal of the chapter from the textbook, has been filed by Ulhasnagar resident Amritpalsingh Khalsa, a report claimed. According to a newspaper, The affidavit by its director Sunil Magar mentions that petitioner’s claim that there is no document declaring Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a terrorist is incorrect. He also mentioned that Khalsa has mentioned in her petition that Bhindranwale was defending the Golden Temple

against Operation Blue Star.

The information in the textbook was put by Ganesh Raut, head of the history department, H V Desai College, Pune. Raut before writing the draft about Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale referred to many sources of history that include newspapers, periodicals, diaries, reference books, documents in the archives and encyclopaedia.

In its reply to Khalsa’s petition, the board said that before any textbook is printed, there is meticulous planning and an elaborate procedure is done on any topic or subject. The reply also mentioned that before printing this information in the textbook, the draft written about Bhindranwale was reviewed by a separate history and civics study group comprising 30 renowned people.

Dipak Misra takes oath: 10 things to know about India’s new chief justice New Delhi Justice Dipak Misra took oath as India 45th Chief Justice on Monday following the retirement JS Khehar a day earlier. At a brief ceremony in the Darbar Hall

in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad also attended the oath ceremony. Here are 10 things to know about India’s 45th Chief Justice: 1. Justice Misra has served as

of Rashtrapati Bhawan, President Ramnath Kovind administered the oath of office to Justice Misra took the oath in English. The eloquent Justice Misra, known for quoting from Shakespeare and the Vedas in his orders, will remain in office till October 2, 2018.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Union ministers were present at the ceremony. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, leader of the opposition

the chief justice of the Patna high court and the Delhi high court before being elevated to the apex court in October 2011.

2. After his enrolment as an advocate in 1977, he started his practice in constitutional, civil, criminal, revenue, service and sales tax matters in the Orissa high court.

3. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Orissa high court on January 17, 1996.

He was later transferred to the Madhya Pradesh high court. He became a permanent judge on December 19, 1997.

4. He is the third CJI from Odisha, after Justices Ranganath Misra and G B

Eight Indians killed in the UK crash London Three Wipro employees were among eight persons killed in a deadly accident on a highway in southern England in which a mini bus got crushed between two

bramaniyam Pugalur, Rishi Rajeev Kumar, and Vivek Bhaskaran in a tragic road accident in the UK.” Another employee, Mano Ranjan Panneerselvam, is one of

trucks.Two lorry drivers have been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Three passengers, including a five-year-old girl, are fighting for their lives.The bus was carrying a group of 11 passengers who were being driven to London to meet a coach which was taking them on a last minute holiday to France.Three of the six men and two women who lost their lives in the pile-up have now been named Indian nationals who were working for Nottingham firm Capital One. A spokesman for Wipro, the agency which had arranged the contracts, said: “It is with deep regret and sadness that we confirm the passing away of three of our colleagues, Karthikeyan Ramasu-

those critically injured in hospital along with the five-year-old girl who is understood to be the daughter of one of the other passengers.

Panneerselvam’s wife and mother are said by relatives to be the other women who were hospitalised, whilst three of his family members are understood to be among the dead.

Cyriac Joseph, the driver of the minbus who was born in India, was among those who lost their lives in the pile-up.

He had been hired to take the group from Nottingham to London when the crash happened near Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Ryszard Masierak, 31, of Evesham, Worcestershire, is

accused of eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving, four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and eight counts of causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit.

David Wagstaff, 53, of Stoke-onTrent, is charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Brett Smith, who passed the scene in a taxi before the emergency services arrived and stopped to help the little girl, said: “A family has been destroyed. I held a little girl by her arms, trapped inside a vehicle, for a good hour or so with the emergency services and the fire service trying to help.

“I walked home with a blanket that the ambulance service provided me to stay warm because the little girl has got my jacket to keep herself safe. The fire and ambulances services did a really good job.”

Chief Inspector Henry Parsons, from the Joint Operations Unit for Roads Policing at Thames Valley Police, said: “Some of those involved were visiting the UK from India and we are working to keep families abroad informed.”

Masierak was remanded in custody to appear before Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court today whilst Wagstaff was bailed to appear before the same court on September 11.

Pattanaik.

5. He was part of the bench that confirmed the four convicts in the December 16 gang rape. The “brutal, barbaric and diabolic nature” of the crime could create a “tsunami of shock” to destroy a civilised society, the verdict, penned by Justice Misra, had said.

6. He headed the bench which, in an unprecedented pre-dawn hearing in 2015 when the doors of the apex court were opened at 1am, rejected last-ditch efforts by Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon to stay his execution.

7. He headed the bench that passed the order for mandatory singing of the national anthem in cinema halls across the country.

8. Another significant judgment

by Justice Misra was the one directing states and Union Territories to upload FIRs on websites within 24 hours of their registration for enabling accused and others to file appropriate pleas in the courts for redress.

9. Justice Misra, along with Justice P C Pant, had in May, declined to de-criminalise defamation -- an offence punishable with two years in jail apart from fine -- saying the right to free speech cannot mean that a citizen can defame anybody.

10. Justice Misra is currently presiding over a bench hearing the Cauvery and Krishna river water disputes, BCCI reforms and Sahara case among others.

US woman dies after ‘laughing too hard’

Washington A US school teacher died after she accidentally fell off a rooftop balcony while laughing during a vacation in Mexico, according to a media report.Sharon Regoli Ciferno, 50, a teacher at Charles A Huston Middle School in the US state of Pennsylvania, was with her daughter at a friend’s house in Mexico on Monday when she sat on a deck ledge that doubled as a bench.

“She started laughing very hard and when she put her head back she lost her balance and fell back,” her brother David Regoli was quoted as saying by the Fox News.

“She suffered multiple injuries to her body and brain,” he said.

“Alcohol was not a factor. The building code standards in Mexico are not as stringent as in the US. Unfortunately, there was no back on the deck,” her brother said.

Regoli Ciferno was taken to a hospital where she died of her injuries. “This was a tragic accident that has devastated our very close-knit family,” he said.

The tragedy happened just as her students were getting ready to return to school from summer break.

Regoli Ciferno was married and a mother of two.

Issue - 734 (10)

Seeking a professionally qualified Jat Sikh match for a Jat Sikh Canadian Citizen girl, 80 born, 5'7" tall , Convent Educated, B.Sc. Computer Science working as a Programmer Analyst in a Software Company in Toronto, Canada. Please respond with your bio-data and recent picture to d.sdhindsa@yahoo.com or contact at 647-504-0534 ***736*** Canadian immigrant, well educated. 60 yrs. old, 5'-10" tall, retired, getting handsome pension, widower, owns good property in India. Two daughter happily married and settled in Canada. Looking for a suitable, sincere and educated life partner.

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The boy should be professionally qualified, born or raised in Canada with similar values, must be living in Toronto Area. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: necky_51@outlook.com or call : 289-499-6718 ***734*** Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, born and raised in Canada, 38 yrs.old, 5'-7" tall, beautiful, university graduate, profrssionally employed with education boare, family oriented.

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29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

settled from USA/Canada.

Please email recent pictures and bio-data to : js.bal@hotmail.com or call:-1-519-858-2640 ***734*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitbable match for their daughter, 38 yrs.old, 5'-4" tall, born and raised in Canada, beautiful, well versed in both the cultures, professionally employed in Toronto, innocently divoreced.

The boy should be family oriented, from a respectable jat sikh family from USA/Canada.

Please redpond with latest pictures and bio-data to : torontomateimonial@gmail.com or call:-416-509-5012 ***734*** Suitable match for Ramgarhia Sikh boy, 33 yrs.old, 6' tall, software engineer, holds professional degree, never, married before, currently living in India. The girl should be Canadian/American, immigrant/ citizen, well educated, sincere, family oriented from a respectable family. Brother is doctor in India. Aunt (Bhuaji) well settled in Canada. Please respond with latest pictures and bio-data to : singh.inder19@gmail.com or call:-1-604-293-1979 ***734*** Jat Sikh Saini US citizens seeking professional alliance for their 32 Yrs/5’7"/Greencard holder fair, slim and beautiful daughter. Licensed Physical Therapist presently working in NewYork. Boy residing or working in NewYork preferred.

Higher caste no bar. Send biodata and recent photos.

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11" tall, handsome, Canadian citizen, working as an engineer.

The girl should be well educated, Canadian/American immigrant or citizen, having good family background .girls on student/work visa can also be considered.

Please send your bio-data & recent pictures to : prabh234@hotmail.com or call : 1-778-982-1172 ***734*** Ramgarhia Matharu parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 28 yrs. old, 6' tall, handsome, software engineer, running his own successful business. The girl should be Canadian immigrant/ citizen, beautiful , tall, slim, educated and family oriented. Girl on student visa/work permit may also be considered. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to : hmatharu4@gmail.com or call : 647-430-0435 or 647-295-3893 ***734*** Ramgarhia Matharu parents seeking a suitable match for their daughter, 27 yrs. old. 5'-6" tall, beautiful, fair complexion, family oriented, B. Sc (hons) in life sciences, running her bussiness successfully. The boy should be Canadian immigrant/citizen, well educated, settled with family values. Please send your recent pictures and bio-data to : hmatharu4@gmail.com or call :647-430-0435 or 647-295-3893 ***734*** Wanted suitable sikh match for slim, beautiful, Sikh girl Aug. 86 born 5'4'',Belongs to a well qualified family from J&K India, Presently pursuing PhD in cancer biology from a reputed university in USA. Preferably well qualified professional Match in USA / Canada. Please send your biodata and recent picture to:King90Singh90@gmail.com or call : 011-91-94193-08406 (whatsapp any time) or +1-402208-7469 (till 29th Sept.) ***734*** Professionally qualified Canadian match for very beautiful, fair girl, Canadian PR, 27 yrs old, 5'-3" tall, Sikh, M. S. (computer science), working in top Multinational corporation in Toronto, Please email recent picture and bio-data to : rb.ca1189@gmail.com or call : 647-674-7240 ***734*** Well established Sikh family living in Canada from last 35 years seek a suitable match for their daughter born and brought up in Canada , born AUG. 1988 , 5.4" tall , beautiful , well cultured , well read , MSc and Doctor of Optometry ( optometrist ) . The boy should be well educated , handsome, raised in Canada or USA with family values. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to - mgndch@gmail.com ***734*** Brahmin family looking for a suitable match for their son, 28 yrs old, 5.9" tall, bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management from canada, doing transpertation job (Part-time). The girl should be Hindu Brahmin, age between 2026 yrs. from Canada/USA/India.

Malwa prefered.

Please Call : 647-459-3410 ***734*** Ramdasia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, Canadian Citizen, 26 yrs old, 5'.6" tall, B.Sc. Nursing degree holder, well seltted in a job in hospital, beautiful and family oriented. The boy should be Canadian immigrant /citizen, well educated, handsome, tall professionally seltled from good family background boy on student visa/work permit may also be considered. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to : gur9canada@gmail.com or call : 416-551-8884 ***734*** Ramdasia Sikh (weaver) parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, American citizen ,27 yrs. old,5’-6" tall,doing Master of Medical Science, well settled,doing ownbusiness, beautiful, family oriented . The boy should be well educated ,handsome professionally settled, from good family. Caste no bar. Please send your biodata &recent pictures to:8359885@gmail.com or call: 1-209-451-9138 ***734*** Match for good looking Ramgarhia Sikh clean shaven boy. 06' 03" 31 years. India born canadian citizen. Own business. No bars. Email pictures and biodatato : jpsingh3644@gmail.com or call 647-991-4575after 04:00PM. ***734*** 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. Meternal family is well settled in Canada.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: chandanbkrandhawa@gmail.com or call: 647-896-4424 ***734*** Jat Sikh family seek a suitable match for their daughter, 28 yrs. old, 5'-3" tall, slim, beautiful, post graduate, living in Chandigarh.

The boy should be Canadian immigrant/citizen, educated, The girl’s brother well settled in Canada. Please send your biodata and recent picture to : harvinder_7789@yahoo.com or call : 1-431-999-7762 ***734*** Ramgarhia Gursikh family seeking a suitable match for their beautiful daughter, 25 yrs.old, 5'9" tall, slim, family oriented, born and raised in Canada, studied in the University of British Columbia, currently completing MLS programe, working in a international engineering company. The boy should be well educated, handsome, tall and professionally settled. No drinking, no smoking. Preference will be given to sikh with turban and beard. Please send your biodata and recent picture to: rkourfamily@gmail.com or call: 1-604-805-6415 ***734***

Issue - 734 (11)

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Delhi High Court dismisses Kejriwal’s plea against speedy trial in defamation suit

New Delhi The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal‘s plea questioning the decision of a single judge to expedite trial in the defamation suit filed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The court had, last week, pulled up Kejriwal and another AAP leader Ashutosh for filing a plea to set aside the order of the judge in the Rs 10-crore suit.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar had criticised the plea, saying the judge “could not be faulted for ensuring speedy trial” and courts were “duty bound to conduct trial expeditiously” and this was the “first time” the bench was hearing a grievance against a trial being expedited.

“Both parties are people of eminence. It is due to the consideration of the stature of people involved that the… judge has passed such an order,” said the bench. Earlier, on July 26, Justice Manmohan had passed an order asking the parties to maintain the dignity of the court and stating that there can be no exchange of scandalous remarks in the name of crossexamination. A limit was also placed on the presence of people in the court as only advocates appearing in the case are to be allowed in the court room. Following this, Kejriwal and Ashutosh had filed the plea stating that the judge had “erred

grievously in holding that the joint registrar is recording evidence under supervision of the court and if a party is subjected to abuse or humiliation during crossexamination, the court could certainly intervene”. The plea stated that the power to record evidence was to be exercised as per rules by the joint registrar, and only the joint registrar had the power to decide any objections. It said, “The… single judge failed to appreciate that the joint registrar is a delegate of the High Court, not of any individual judge.”

The plea filed by Kejriwal also stated that as the joint registrar had disallowed certain questions while crossexamination on May 17, “there was no further cause for the single judge to exercise its power in the manner in which it was exercised…” It further went on to question the judge’s order, limiting lawyers’ presence in the courtroom as it would cause “great inconvenience” to counsels, their associates and the general public.

In the plea, Kejriwal had claimed that the order be set aside as “it was passed without jurisdiction and being a nullity”, while also stating that the judge could have provided two months to Kejriwal’s counsel as there were about 5,000 pages of document on record pertaining to the suit.

Hawk hails a cab for shelter

A MAN filmed the moment a hawk wouldn’t budge from his taxi cab as Harvey barreled towards Texas. As thousands evacuated the Houston area ahead of the category-4 hurricane and others hunkered down, one hawk sought refuge in a car in Houston on Friday.

William Bruso was picking up supplies when he found the bird “looking scared” as the animal sat with its wings tucked close to its side sitting in the car’s passenger seat.

He named it Harvey the Hurricane Hawk and said: “He just kind of hopped on in and doesn’t want to leave. He seems to be scared. He doesn’t know what’s going on.” Bruso brought the hawk home with him and continued to post videos with his new friend, but handed the bird over to the Texas Wildlife Rescue Center on Saturday.

Bruso posted the video of the interaction because he was perplexed on what to do with the winged creature. He said in the minute-long video: “Guys this Cooper hawk, really pretty fella, has sought refuge in my cab here. He seems to be scared, he doesn’t know what’s going on.

Hurricane Harvey is getting ready to barrel down through over here. “He just kind of doesn’t want to leave. He looks likes he is scared. He doesn’t know whats going on, maybe because of the air pressure because of the hurricane?”

Supreme Court Questions Gujarat Government For Slow Trial in Asaram Bapu’s Rape Case

Surat The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Gujarat government for the slow trial of self-styled godman, Asaram Bapu, in connection with a rape case registered against him. The apex court also asked the Gujarat government why have

they not yet examined one of the victims in the case, reported news agency ANI. A woman from Surat accused Asaram Bapu of raping her repeatedly during her stay in his ashram near Ahmedabad between 2001 and 2006.

Another case was filed by the

woman’s sister against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai. In her complaint, she accused them of rape and illegal confinement. In this case, two prosecution witnesses have been killed.

According to reports, examination of 29 prosecution witnesses is already done whereas 46 others are yet to be examined and their recording of evidence is still remaining The self-styled godman Asaram Bapu is currently placed in a Jodhpur jail for the rape of a minor girl in Rajasthan in his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur. The girl, who hailed from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was a student living in the ashram. His request for interim bail was rejected by the Supreme Court two weeks ago in this rape case.

After Demonetisation, 99% of Rs. 1,000 in Circulation Back in Banking System

New Delhi According to a report, almost 99 per cent of the demonetised Rs. 1000 currency notes has returned to the banking system.

This report was based on data uploaded on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) website. As per it, at the end of March 2017, there were Rs 8,925 crore worth of Rs 1,000 notes still in ‘circulation’.

The data suggests “notes in circulation” are all notes held outside Reserve Bank – that is by the public, banks treasuries and so on. This figure represents the total of all Rs 1,000 notes that were not deposited with the banks after demonetisation starting November 8 last year. Just 1.3 per cent of the notes were not

returned, the report claimed. The data has however not been provided for the Rs 500 notes which were also demonetised.

As per a report by Times of India, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, minister of state for finance said that 6,858 million Rs 1,000 notes were in circulation. These amounts to Rs 6.86 lakh crore.

The RBI is yet to make a comment regarding the number of Rs 500 notes returned to the banking system. As the majority portion of demonetised currency was in Rs. 500 denomination note. The demonetised value was 15.4 lakh crore. Out of it, 44 per cent consists of Rs 1000 notes, while 56 per cent consists of Rs. 500 notes.

Pakistan must ensure its soil not used for terror attack against neighbours: Top American general

Islamabad Pakistan must ensure that its soil is not used for any terrorist attack against the neighbours, a top American General has said.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander General Joseph Votel conveyed this to Islamabad during a visit this week. This was his third visit to Pakistan as commander.

During the visit, he called on Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, defence minister Khurram Dastgir, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Hayat and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

“In his discussions with Pakistani leaders, he emphasised that all parties must work to ensure that Pakistani soil is not used to plan or conduct terrorist attacks against its neighbours,” the US Embassy here said in a statement.General

Votel also underlined the need to further strengthen US and Pakistani military-to-military relations as the two nations work together to ensure greater regional security and stability.

“This visit allowed the General to gain an increased understanding of the counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency efforts the Pakistani government has made over the years to achieve our shared objectives,” the statement said.Votel called on Prime Minister Abbasi on Saturday during which the premier underscored that Pakistan had an important stake in peace and stability in Afghanistan as Pakistan has suffered the most due to conflict in that country.

Abbasi also raised the Kashmir issue with Votel.

He agreed with General Votel on the importance of working closely to address issues of regional concerns.

Issue - 734 (12)

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Muslims rally in Spain against terrorism after attacks

Granada Two hundred Muslims rallied in the streets of Granada, southern Spain, on Wednesday in protest against a surge in anti-Islamic hate crimes following last week’s deadly attacks in the country.

The protest was called after the city’s main mosque was attacked with flares on Saturday by a handful of members from a far-right group, Hogar Social, who also unfurled a Spanish flag outside the building, according to images on Spanish TV. Muslim groups have reported a jump in anti-Islamic hate incidents since the twin vehicle attacks in Barcelona and the nearby seaside resort of Cambrils that killed 15 people last week. Those attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group.“It is very important for us to affirm our values as Muslims which are the same as those of all other human beings on this planet,” said Nizar Liemlahi, director of the Dar Loughat Muslim cultural association, one of the co-organisers of the rally.

Only 0.1 percent of the world’s Muslims commit attacks and these people “do not represent our values or our principles,” added Liemlahi, a psychologist who moved to Spain from Morocco in 2010.

The protesters brandished banners with slogans such as “I am Muslim and I want to live in peace” and “We also are victims” as they gathered outside Granada city hall.

Mounir Benjelloun, head of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (FEERI), said the increase in anti-Islamic incidents since the attacks was “unbearable”.

“Unfortunately, after what happened, there is an avalanche of cases. In my 25 years in Spain I have not seen anything like it.”

Vandals have defaced mosques with racist graffiti and some people have posted videos on social media sites calling for the expulsion of all Muslims, he said.

About 1,000 Muslims marched in Barcelona on Monday against terrorism.

10 get death penalty over plot to assassinate Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Dhaka A tribunal here in Bangladesh on Sunday awarded death penalty to 10 people for planting a bomb in 2000 to assassinate then opposition leader and now Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Dhaka’s Special Trial Tribunal Judge Momtaz Begum gave the order in the presence of several accused from the banned Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HUJI), which has been accused of planting a 76-kg bomb, Xinhua news agency reported.

The judge also sentenced one person to life imprisonment and nine others to 20 years in jail.

Subject to confirmation of the apex court, the judge said the death row convicts would be executed by firing squad.

The bomb was found when a stage was being set up at a college ground in Gopalganj district on July 21, 2000 where Hasina was to address an election campaign rally the next day. Of the 25 accused, HUJI chief Mufti Hannan was executed for the 2004 grenade attack on then British High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

Defence lawyer Faruk Ahammad told reporters that eight accused were currently behind the bars, one had got bail while 15 others were fugitives.

Hannan was a key suspect in the plotting to assassinate Hasina and blow up courts, secular institutions as well as shrines and churches.

He came in the limelight after the militant group announced at a

public rally of Islamists in 1999 to establish a Taliban like government in Bangladesh by 2000.

Hannan, arrested in August 2005 and hanged in April this year, was

also the mastermind of the nationwide bombings on August 17, 2005.

Hannan had participated in the war in Afghanistan against the former Soviet Union.

Switzerland indicts woman for ‘jihadi travelling’ Zurich Swiss federal prosecutors have indicted a 30-year-old Swiss woman from the Zurich area suspected of trying to join up with jihadist militants in Syria, they said on Thursday.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said it had proof that the woman in December 2015 travelled illegally with her four-year-old child from Egypt to

Greece, intending to go to Syria via Turkey to join the Islamic State. Greek authorities prevented the woman from traveling onward, and she was arrested at Zurich airport in January 2016.“The present indictment must be considered within the overall context of the OAG’s strict policy...of prosecuting all jihadi travellers,” the OAG said in a statement.

Factory shut for dumping dye after dogs turn blue

Al Qaeda confirms senior al Shabaab commander killed in US airstrike

Mogadishu A senior commander in al Shabaab, Somalia’s al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist rebels, was killed last month in a US airstrike, the group said on Saturday in an online statement.

Somalia said at the time that its military and allied foreign troops had killed the man identified as Ali Mohamed Hussein or Ali Jabal, believed responsible for several bombings. It did not disclose the nationality of the foreign troops, but American soldiers have in the past taken part in such raids.“The cowardly American enemy planes tried to strike him. The first missed him and the second

hit, making him a martyr,” said the al Qaeda statement circulated on social media.Somalia said last month that Ali Jabal’s death would “reduce al Shabaab’s ability to conduct senseless acts of violence against the people of Somalia, its East African neighbours, and the international community.”The insurgents have carried out frequent attacks in the capital Mogadishu as they bid to topple Somalia’s Western-backed government and drive out African Union peacekeeping troops.Somalia has been at war since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other.

MUMBAI A factory accused of dumping dye into an Indian river where several dogs turned blue has been shut down, an official said Tuesday, after alarming pictures emerged of the brightly-coloured canines. An animal activist spotted the blue dogs wandering the streets of Mumbai near an industrial zone where factories had been accused of pouring untreated chemicals directly into the Kasadi river. Arati Chauhan said dogs and birds had been left a bright blue after swimming in the contaminated river. “We managed to take one dog for treatment as it was suffering with eye infection,” Arati Chauhan, head of the Navi Mumbai Animal Protection Cell, told AFP. “The bizzare incident brought to the forefront the dangers posed by these firms which fail to comply

with environmental norms.”

Chauhan wrote to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, a state body, to complain, and posted images of the dyed dogs online. The board intervened, shutting down the factory for breaching laws on waste disposal, after pictures of the egg-shell blue dogs went viral online. “We have shut down the erring firm after it was found they were flouting norms and endangering animals in the vicinity,” Jayant Hajare, the board’s sub-regional officer told AFP. Officials were also monitoring the health of the canines, Hajare added.

The Kasadi runs through Taloja, Mumbai’s dense industrial zone home to nearly 1000 factories, data from the Mumbai-based Watchdog Foundation shows.

Issue - 734 (13)

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Real heroes who ensured justice Col RD Singh (retd) WE talk of “Beti bachao, beti padhao”, "selfie with daughters", "women’s empowerment', and what not.

Have we remembered the two rape victim sadhvis, who for the last 15 years fought for justice, single-handedly?

T h e y, t h e p r o s e c u t i o n witnesses No 10 and No 15, have attended every hearing since 2002 and not changed a single word from their original statements.

Despite all the pressures, threats to their life and inducements, these women have stood rock-like to fight for justice, and thereby for the dignity for women. One can imagine the hardships and mental trauma these girls and their families must have gone through for 15 long years.

Finally, they won because they were brave and had tremendous perseverance.

They had faith in themselves and in the judiciary. Hats off to them, as they are the real face of women’s empowerment.

Then, we have Anshul, the son of the slain journalist Ram Chander Chatrapati, who was shot on October 24, 2002, for exposing the Dera chief. Ever since then, the young man ( who was only 21 then) has gone from pillar to post to seek justice for his father who died upholding the tenets of upright journalism. Anshul

needs to be protected, and honoured for being a brave and dutiful son. Then there is the fearless cop who refused to be cowed down and saw the case to its finish, the probe officer

Jagdeep Singh. With just about four years service, he has exhibited total professionalism, and added sheen to the name of the judiciary. On August 25, I was

braving the wrath of the violent crowds yet doing their duty under all circumstances.

Without naming them, reporters from Aaj Tak, ABP News, and few others — I

DSP ( CBI) Satish Dagar (now SP), who did not miss a single hearing, ensured fairness in the case, leading to justice to the rape victims. May we have more such officers in the force.

And then, whose name most of us came to know only on the day of the judgment — the young, strong, and a nononsense judge — Justice

glued to the television since morning, to have a first-hand glimpse of the happenings, hear a far-reaching judgment and also to witness the behaviour of the over two lakh dera devotees who had gathered in Panchkula since August 23.

One was impressed by dare-devil young reporters. They were like real soldiers in the war zone,

could see them braving stones, smoke, and physical attacks from the protesters. I saw them gasping for breath but reporting the real picture, while their OB vans were being toppled over and burnt.

Had they not been there, we would have been left high and dry as regards the ground realities. My faith in the media was reinforced. Salute to you

Indians Top H-1B Visa Applications For The US Till July

Mumbai Indians continued to be the largest group of aspirants for H1B visa with 2.47 lakh applications in the first nine months of the current US financial year. Between October 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017, 74% of the total applications are collected. The financial year in the US begins from October 1 and ends on September 30. At least 3 lakh applications were submitted by Indians for the financial year 2015-2016.

On the other hand, the Chinese applications for H-1B visa are much lower compared to their visa applications till June 30.

The figure is 36, 362 and it is their highest ever over the past 10 financial years. Total 35, 720 applications were filed by Chinese during 2015-16. The third on the list is Canada with

3,551 applications filed until June 30, 2017.However, the applications on the basis of country of birth are not available until June 30, 2017. The USCIS report shows that 3.45 lakh approved applications were filed for 2015-2016. While from India it was 74%, China’s applicants comprised of 9% bringing it to the second position with 31,995 approvals. Indian applications stood at 21.83 lakh, Chinese at 2.96 lakh and the Philippines at 85, 918 in the period of October 1, 2006, to June 30, 2017, reported theTimes of India.

Indians applying for the H-1B visa increased by 80.6% since 200607 to stand at three lakh in 201516. A section of US senators thinks that as Indians are flooding the application pool, they stand to benefit in terms of the number of visa approvals granted.

young friends, and here's wishing speedy recovery to the cameraman who was hit on the head, and the OB van engineer whose leg was fractured.

And here comes a grand salute. It is to the Punjab and Haryana High Court that has been proactive throughout — reminding the government and the police to take timely precautions and action. It is thanks to the High Court that accountability is being fixed for lapses and nonperformance. It is also taking serious note of the damages to public and private property, and has directed the Dera Sacha Sauda to pay for it.

This is a very encouraging sign for a healthy democracy and restores people's faith in an upright, independent judiciary. There must be many more who deserve our salute.

These are the common people who showed humanity and helped the injured, women and the old. Also, there were many dedicated officers and lower functionaries in the bureaucracy and the police who performed their duty sincerely. I reserve the last word for our Olive Greens — thank you Army for being there.

Gratitude is the hallmark of a healthy s o c i e t y.

Let's overcome our fears and narrow interests. It's time to applaud the good, keep our conscience and walk with our heads high.

U.S. navy recovers remains of all sailors missing after USS McCain collision Singapore The U.S. Navy on Monday confirmed recovery of the remains of all 10 sailors killed after the warship John S. McCain collided with a merchant vessel in waters near Singapore and Malaysia.

The guided-missile destroyer collided with the Alnic MC east of Singapore last week while approaching the city state on a routine port visit.

“The U.S. navy and marine corps divers have now recovered the remains of all 10 USS John S.McCain sailors,” the Seventh Fleet said in a statement on its website.The news follows the navy’s Thursday announcement that it had suspended wider search and rescue operations after finding and identifying the remains of one sailor. The navy found the remains of missing sailors inside sealed sections of the damaged hull of the warship, which is moored at Singapore’s Changi Naval Base.

“The incident is under investigation to determine the facts and circumstances of the collision,” the statement added.

Aircraft, divers and vessels from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States

joined a search-and-rescue operation for the missing sailors over an area of about 5,500 sq. km. (2,124 square miles) around

The U.S. navy has also flagged plans for temporary and staggered halts in operations across its global fleet to allow

the crash site.

The pre-dawn collision, the fourth major accident for the U.S. Pacific Fleet this year, has prompted a review of its operations.The Navy has removed Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin from his post, citing “a loss of confidence in his ability to command” after the run of accidents.Rear Admiral Phil Sawyer takes command of the fleet from Aucoin, who had been due to step down next month.

staff to focus on safety.

In a one-day operational pause last Wednesday, officers and crew of Seventh Fleet ships deployed at a facility in Yokosuka, Japan, received fresh training in risk management and communications.

The Seventh Fleet, headquartered in Japan, operates as many as 70 ships, including the U.S. navy’s only forwarddeployed aircraft carrier, and has about 140 aircraft and 20,000 sailors.

Issue - 734 (14)

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Ku Klux Klan leader calls immigrant journalist a mongrel, threatens to ‘burn’ her New Delhi A Ku Klux Klan leader in the North Carolina state threatened a Hispanic journalist and called her a mongrel during an interview last week.

Univision, Spanish language broadcaster, had last week arranged an interview with Chris Barker who heads a KKK branch called the ‘Loyal White Knights. Barker’s official title in the group is the ‘Grand Dragon’, Univision said.

Univision anchor Ilia Calderon said that after Barker realised a person of colour is the interviewer, he turned to another crew member and said, “You brought this n***** to my house!”

Calderon explains in the

article that the interview was like walking into a lion’s den and there was “hatred and bewilderment” in Barker’s eyes. Univision said Barker was informed in advance that a woman

of Hispanic-origin would be interviewing him.

During the interview, Barker threatened Calderon -- an immigrant -- and asked her why she doesn’t “go back”.

Calderon questioned: “Are you going to chase me out of here?”

“No, we’re going to burn you out,” Barker said bluntly, prompting his wife to jump in.

“I’ve been here over 20 years and we’ve never had a black person or whatever you want to call yourself, you’re a mongrel to me,”

Barker added.

The Univision anchor held her ground through the interview, asking Barker questions about KKK and telling him it was offensive to call her a n*****.

Barker was reportedly on probation for involvement in a knife attack against one of the members of his KKK group but the charge was later dropped, the Univision report said.

A brief video posted of the interview received flak on social media websites.

One Facebook user said, “Univision was wrong for using this reporter as a pawn to spark his hatred.”

Another opinion catered to the ‘fake news’ accusations, saying: “There goes fake hateful news again. Trying to divide.”

The incident comes close on the heels of violence in Charlottesville, Virignia, when white supremacists, KKK leaders and neo Nazis held a march in the city to ‘Unite the Right’. A woman was killed as a white nationalist plowed his car into counter protesters at the march site.

‘Safer than London!’ North Korea opens door to Russian tourists Moscow North Korea has opened its doors to Russian

“checked” before their trip and will always be accompanied by a guide

tourists, issuing a licence for the first travel agency in Moscow to promise clients “full immersion” in the nation’s culture and enjoyment “safer than an evening walk in London”.

NKOREAN.RU, a Russian company licensed by North Korea’s government, offers organised tours for groups of up to 10 people or individuals “to show the travellers the multi-faceted life of this most closed of countries”.

Guests to North Korea must necessarily be

who will monitor the “adequate behaviour of the tourist and guarantee his safety.” Pictures of strategic and military facilities are banned and long talks with locals “are not recommended”.

North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile tests since the beginning of last year, significantly raising tension on the heavily militarised Korean peninsula and in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July triggered a new round of tougher global sanctions.

Faced with economic problems made harder by multiple sanctions, the Pyongyang government is keen to develop tourism to earn cash.

The most pricey tour, 15 days “full immersion in the culture of North Korea” costing 118,090 roubles ($1,997), includes visits to a farm, a mineral water factory, a Buddhist temple, walks in the mountains and an introduction to national cuisine. Visits to numerous museums to founding leader Kim Il-Sung are also on offer.

Other less demanding tours include relaxation on a beach, an aviation show and even a beer festival.

It is unclear how popular these trips will be among Russians who have already developed a fondness for visiting Europe and the affordable resorts of Turkey and Thailand.

Bear bites man in China ‘tiger death’ wildlife park BEIJING A bear has bitten a visitor at a Chinese drive-through wildlife park where a woman was fatally attacked by tigers last year.

The man had ignored park warnings and rolled down his car window to feed bears at Badaling Wildlife World near Beijing.

He escaped with minor injuries, according to local reports.

Local authorities have since ordered the park to tighten safety procedures, including limiting visitor numbers.

Last year a woman and her mother got out of their car at the park and were mauled by tigers. The mother later died.

In the latest incident which took place last Friday, the man, surnamed Chen, was touring the wildlife park with a friend in a car.

Despite park warnings, the two men decided to try their luck after seeing other visitors feeding the bears through their car windows without incident, he said in an interview with the Beijing Evening News.

A bear went up to their window and Mr Chen tried to roll it up, but the window

malfunctioned and rolled down instead. The bear then lunged in and bit Mr Chen’s left shoulder.

The men sped away and sought medical treatment for Mr Chen. Pictures of the incident, snapped by Mr Chen’s friend, have circulated widely online and in Chinese media.

Mr Chen told the newspaper: “I admit that I was definitely at fault by opening the window, but at that time I was in a lot of pain and fear, and asked staff what to do. They just told me to go to the hospital by myself, and I was shocked when I heard that.”

A park spokesman told the newspaper that the

incident was due to visitors not observing park rules forbidding the feeding of “wild beasts”, which he said were clearly displayed throughout the park.

It also released a CCTV video of the incident, which officials said showed park rangers warning Mr Chen to shut his window before the bear attack.

Local authorities have since ordered “immediate rectifications” in Badaling Wildlife World, reported the China News portal.

This includes improving visitor safety awareness, limiting the number of visitors who drive through the park, and increasing park surveillance.

Issue 734 (15)

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

SHOOT TO MISS

Vinayak Chakravorty By

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami, Shraddha Das, Anil George, Murli Sharma, Divya Dutta Direction: Kushan Nandy FEW things have rocked the screen lately as Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a bad avatar, served with a twist of humour. Director Kushan Nandy knows tapping that image of the incredibly talented actor is enough to draw crowds at the ‘plexes. So, Babumoshai Bandookbaaz

mainly hawks Nawaz’s mean swagger and not much else. Once upon a time Nandy made a couple of superduds called 88 Antop Hill and HumDum — films you wouldn’t care to remember. Recalling such absolute mess jobs becomes necessary because it lets you understand the fact that the biggest weakness of Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is its director.

The film suffers from shoddy writing and treatment. The makers set out to serve curry western flavour spiced with Latin American swagger. But they were clearly confused over how to go about it, except stuff the scenario with steamy scenes, cuss words and random gunfights. Nawaz plays Babu Bihari, smalltown sharp shooter. The film’s initial portions are engaging as we enter Babu’s world. The rustic milieu he thrives in includes the cobbler girl he

loves (Bidita Bag), local goonpoliticians constantly baying for each other’s blood (Divya Dutta and Anil George), and a rival hitman (Jatin Goswami). Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is embarrassingly amateurish in the way it tries setting up twists using its backdrop and characters. Despite the powerhouse cast, director Nandy fails to hold interest. It is Nawaz’s show mainly but other actors in the cast are in fine form too, despite being limited by a script that seems to go nowhere. Bidita Bag, as Babu’s love interest and Jatin Goswami as his rival sharp shooter are good.

Divya Dutta, Murali Sharma and Anil George are outstanding. Babumoshai Bandookbaaz hints at a sad truth: even multiplex cinema has now started banking on smart packaging over solid content for quick profits.

Too dumb to thrill A Gentleman Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez, Suniel Shetty Direction: Raj & DK WE are back with the double-role drill. A Gentleman gives you two Sidharth Malhotra acts for the price of one ticket, plus Jacqueline Fernandez in regular sexy mode, with lots of naach-gaana and action thrown in. If that is your idea of paisa vasool, keep in mind an

original story is not quite the priority here.

You would think directors Raj and DK saw too many mindless Hollywood action flicks before writing this one. The film starts off introducing shy guy Gaurav and the daredevil Rishi (Sidharth Malhotra in dual avatar). Gaurav is too coy to reveal his love for Kavya (Jacqueline Fernandez). Rishi is top gun of an evil man (Suniel Shetty). While Gaurav dreams of settling down, Rishi wants to give up his risky lifestyle. Twists await both the tales. The film tries to cover up its lack of a cohesive plot with smart

treatment. Whenever the story loses steam, the director-duo quickly takes the action to a fresh locale, or packs in new stunts, and / or puts Jacky in a set of sexy costumes to gyrate with Sid. Lame scenes try to set up comedy and thrills, while Sidharth and Jacqueline try hard to act cool. A Gentleman is the sort of film that stopped being big deal a while back.

Paisa vasool no longer translates to dumb tricks. The makers overlooked that fact.

— Vinayak Chakravorty

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Films need to highlight relevant issues: Sunny Deol His upcoming film Poster Boys is set around the topic of vasectomy and actor Sunny Deol says it is essential to highlight relevant issues in an entertaining way through cinema.

Poster Boys is inspired by a reallife incident about three porters who found their pictures on a poster advertising vasectomy. “There are several things that are supposed to be taboo. Ten years ago, nobody would have thought of it as a film. These ideas keep cropping up as and when society and cinema evolve and things change around us. It is important to highlight issues that are relevant in society; such subjects need to be tackled,” Deol says.

The actor, who ruled the industry in the ‘90s with action films, believes cinema has the power to make people think about issues that are often brushed under the carpet.

“People go to theatres for entertainment and if they get

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s film ‘Fanney Khan’ plot revealed!

Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan-starrer “Fanney Khan” will take up the cause of body shaming — which has become rampant across the world — in a huge way, says producer Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. “‘Fanney Khan’ is a beautiful father and daughter story. We have a new girl playing a 16-yearold daughter. It picks up the cause of a young girl in a big way. And you will see the film in many layers... It’s about her aspirations of getting popular.

“At the same time, it’s about the whole body shaming of a girl — most of the girls not just in India, but around the world go through... The male gaze thing or female gaze also... (which is) very scary,” Mehra told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

the message as well, then that’s good. Cinema has been a reflection of society and it works otherwise as well.” The

actor says his intention is to always give his best to every film he does. “We do our best when we are shooting and once the work is done we don’t know if we have got it right or not. But we always try to be right.”

Poster Boys is a remake of the 2014 Marathi film of the same name, which Shreyas Talpade had produced. “I have not seen the Marathi film. I prefer to go with the vision of the director,” adds Deol, who is also shooting for the comedy, Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se.

Have stopped doing films out of friendships: Ajay Devgn Having been in the industry for over 25 years, Ajay Devgn says his process of choosing a movie has become “more clear” today and he now goes forward with a project only if its script is good.

Devgn thinks today the stakes have become too high for an actor to say yes to a film out of emotional reasons.

“Earlier we would just listen to an idea and say ‘lets do it. Films were releasing left right and centre, we were doing 12 films at a time, so we did a lot of movies purely out of emotions and for relationships.

“The process of choosing a film has become more clear today.

Now, it really means business.

Stakes are too high, there is too many pressure,” Devgn tells PTI in an interview.

Though initially he did choose certain movies for the friendship’s sake, Devgn insists he never took on a film just to survive in the industry.

“There was never a phase where I chose a film purely to survive as there was too much work.

There has always been too much work and I’ve been lucky that ways. There was no need of ‘survival’. It was either you liked a script or you do it for

friends and for the emotions.”

The 48-year-old National Awardwinning actor says the change in selecting a film came about with time as the audience has evolved. “For me, it has become clear (to choose a film) not because of the external pressure but because the audience has evolved a lot. You can’t ever judge the taste accurately but you do have a barometer.

“I should enjoy doing a film, which is very important.

Filmmaking isn’t just the process of a release, it is 100 days of shooting before that. If I don’t enjoy that, I will not be able to work.” The “Shivaay” actor, who has teamed up with Milan

Luthria for the fourth time in “Baadshaho”, says working with friends help a lot as they all are on the same page.

His latest period heist action thriller is directed by Milan, who has previously given hits such as, “Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai”, “Chori Chori” and “Kachche Dhaage”.

“When you are working with someone like Milan, Rohit (Shetty) or someone with whom you have shared great rapport with, you know exactly what their mindset is and what they are looking at.

“You also know what they want from you and know that they will write keeping you in mind. All of this makes the initial process easier.” The actor says the idea of “Baadshaho”— of a big scale robbery of a Queen’s gold— came about while they were shooting for “Kachche Dhaage” and both him and Milan just couldn’t get the story out of their heads. “We had heard of this incident which people used to talk about in Rajasthan, where during the emergency time there was a Queen whose gold was taken away by the government but there was a guy who vanished with the gold overnight.

No one has the right to judge my film journey: Jacqueline Fernandez Jacqueline Fernandez is not worried that she will get slotted in a category due to her current spate of glamorous roles and says she would not do an indie project just to prove her acting chops.

The 32-year-old actor says it is her journey and no one has the right to point fingers at her choice of films.

In an interview with PTI, Jacqueline says, “I am not supposed to do an indie project because other people are telling me, ‘You are a glamorous actress now and you should be doing indie films’.

That will never be my mindset.

“That will mean I am doing it for the wrong reasons. It should come from within. If I feel that I want to do something completely different I will do it.

As an actor I do my job with conviction so it is for no one to actually judge because it is my journey. I choose things which I can do justice to.”

The actor believes only right attitude and hard work take one forward in Bollywood and coming from a film family does not make much difference.

“Good attitude and hard work are what take you forward in films and in life. I feel both outsiders and industry kids have to put in their fair share of hard work.

“No one has it easy. I have worked with industry kids and seen their struggle. They have seen my struggle, but audience doesn’t come because of your background, that way they are quite unforgiving. They will only come if they like you.”

Jacqueline’s latest release is action comedy “A Gentleman”. Directed

by Raj and DK, the film released today.

The actor says she signed the film because she liked the way the director duo brought newness to the genre.

“I do think there is a different language spoken in cinema now, which the audience is accepting and actually, in a way, demanding in some cases. It really helps when you work with directors who understand that need of the audience.

Same was the case with Raj and DK. I completely went with their vision. They brought a different essence to the

genre.”

Jacqueline will next be seen in Tarun Mansukhani’s “Drive”.

Aditi Rao Hydari raids her wardrobe for ‘Bhoomi’ After sporting a glamorous avatar in Mani Ratnam’s Kaatru Veliyidai (2017), Aditi Rao Hydari will be seen as the girl-next-door in Bhoomi. The film holds a special place in the actor’s heart as she has created her own look for many scenes in the film.

“Chandrakant [the film’s stylist] designed costumes for all of us and was open to incorporating my suggestions,” begins Hydari and goes on to add, “I wanted to

use looser silhouettes, choosing to stay away from fitted kurtis and patialas.”

The Omung Kumar-directorial sees Sanjay Dutt playing a protective father to Hydari’s character. Since the drama largely revolves around the deep bond between the fatherdaughter duo, the actor had an insightful suggestion with regard to her styling. “Most girls love wearing their mothers’ clothes.

In Bhoomi, I imagined my character would love to wear her father’s hand-me-downs. We used oversized shirts and men’s t-shirts too.”

Having used a few items from her personal collection, she mentions that her favourite is a scene where she wears her most prized possession. “In a scene, I am wearing silver baalis that a friend had gifted me for my tenth birthday.”

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James Cameron calls Denzel Washington to return to ‘Wonder Woman’ movie broadway with ‘Iceman Cometh’ ‘a step backwards’

“Wonder Woman” may have been appreciated by critics around the globe but it seems that filmmaker James Cameron is not really impressed with the DC’s Gal Gadot starrer.

Cameron, who is popular for writing some of Hollywood’s strongest female protagonists in films such as “Titanic”, “Avatar” and “The Terminator”, took a dig at the way Gadot’s character was shown in Patty Jenkins’s movie, reported The Guardian.

“All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over ‘Wonder Woman’ has

been so misguided. She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards.

“Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton in ‘The Terminator’) was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, (the benefit of characters like Sarah) is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female,” said Cameron.

Two-time Academy-award winner Denzel Washington is all set to return next year to star in Eugene O’Neill’s ‘The Iceman Cometh’.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the revival will be produced by Scott Rudin with multiple Tony winner George C. Wolfe taking on directing duties.

The ‘Iceman Cometh’ is an epic 1939 drama, first produced in 1946, set in a down-market New York bar and following the circuitous conversations of its go-nowhere patrons.

The one bright light in this dim world is the occasional visits of Theodore Hickey, a colorful traveling salesman whose garrulous manner appears to bring some relief from the atmosphere of hopeless desolation and empty dreams.

That role will be played by Washington in the upcoming revival.

The drama is known as one of the playwright’s most demanding works, requiring

Kim Kardashian West ‘fears’ Taylor Swift’s new single

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian reportedly fears that singer Taylor Swift will take aim at her and rapper Kanye West in her new single.

Kim and Kanye fell out with Swift over the lyrics in his ‘Famous’ track last year, in which he referred to Swift as a “b***h”, and Kim now fears that Swift will reply

to them with her new single, reports hollywoodlife.com.

“One of the few people out there who are not very excited for Taylor Swift’s upcoming music is Kim Kardashian,” a source said.

“She feels that she will be attacked along with Kanye in a future song over their past differences and she doesn’t want to deal with the fallout of a Taylor Swift song and what that does to people. “(Kim) doesn’t want to be the focus of anything Taylor related, she hopes that her and Kanye dodge a bullet and Taylor ends up talking about others instead,” the source added.

stamina from both its actors and audiences ‘ with full stagings running nearly five hours.

‘The Iceman Cometh’ debuted on Broadway in 1946, running 136 performances. Since then it has been revived a further three times, with the most recent production in 1999 starring Kevin Spacey as Hickey.

The role was originated on Broadway by James Barton, and subsequently played by Jason Robards and James Earl Jones,

as well as by Nathan Lane in an acclaimed recent offBroadway revival.

The limited 14-week engagement is set for New York’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theater. Previews begin March 22 with opening night scheduled for April 26.

‘The Iceman Cometh’ moves into the vacancy created at the Jacobs Theater by the September 17 closing of the new musical Bandstand.

Evan Rachel Wood dedicates ‘Edelweiss’ to son

“Westworld” star Evan Rachel Wood recently sang an emotional rendition of “Edelweiss” and dedicated it to her three-year-old son.

The 29-year-old actor, who is one-half of a musical group called Rebel and a Basketcase, took to Twitter to share a video of her performing the classic “Sound of Music” tune “Edelweiss”. “Full video of me singing #Edelweiss at @zanecarney’s amazing show. Held back tears, but felt a lot of hope in the room.

Won’t forget it,” Wood wrote.

She further said that her dedication was not only for her little one but for anyone who needs hope today.

Charli XCX sick, Daniel Craig wanted to ‘make history’ with James Bond cancels Japan tour Singer-songwriter Charli XCX says that she was forced to terminate two concerts in

Japan on doctor’s orders.

The Boys hitmaker announced it on Instagram and Twitter on

Friday. Charli was scheduled as one of the headlining performers as part of the Summer Sonic concert series in Tokyo and Osaka.

“I have been seriously ill for the past couple of days with really bad tonsillitis and fever. I passed out during security in Beijing and I’ve since been on antibiotics, but nothing is making me better,” Charli said.

“The doctor told me I cannot perform without doing more damage to my voice and my health,” she added.

British star Daniel Craig was lured back to play James Bond one more time by the promise that he would “make history” with

the film as he would have held the milestone for 13 years in the role. The 49-year-old actor had previously said he wouldn’t be

making a return to the spy role, but has now decided to sign up for another movie as he would be making history of the longest reigning actor to play James Bond.

“MGM and (Craig) had not spoken for over a year. Daniel said he was done, he meant it.

She said he wasn’t, she meant it. Sure, the financial deal was interesting. He was very proud of that (13 year) milestone,” a source told nydailynews.com.

Even if Craig walks away from the franchise after the next movie, which is reportedly slated for release in 2019, he will have held the role for the longest time of 13 years.

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Denied full payment for the job, gangster calls up man to reveal divorced wife’s plot, helps him get legal protection

GOONS HIRED TO BEAT EX-HUBBY SWITCH LOYALTY IN an incident straight out of truecrime shows on TV, the plan of a vengeful woman to “break a few bones” of her divorced Indian husband in Australia backfired last week, when the hired goons switched sides over a dispute over payment schedule and spilled the beans on their target. Yogesh Gupta, 53, approached the Melbourne Police after receiving a call from the gangster allegedly hired by his former wife Deepa Gupta, and based on the taped conversation secured “restraining orders” from the city court.

However, the Indian-origin Australian said he is still frightened. “The call came on August 21 and the caller told me that he had been keeping an eye

on me. He told me that he knew my everyday schedule and where I would be at any point of time of the day. This was scary,” Yogesh told this paper over phone. “The man then told me that he had instructions to break my legs and show the evidence of my hospitalisation to my former wife by Friday, the day she flies off to India, to collect his payment.”

Yogesh said when he asked the caller why he was giving him all that information, he said that Deepa had gone back on her word over the advance payment and asked him to instead rob her husband for compensation. “He said he was doing me this favour so that he can recover from me $322 (`20,600), the money spent on my surveillance over the last two days,” said Yogesh who recorded the 4.18-minute conversation with the unknown person on the phone, and asked him to call back in a few hours with regards to his payment. Yogesh then rushed to the Melbourne East police station.

“When the hired goon called up

again to discuss the payment, it against his former wife. Based on was in the presence of the police the three phone conversations, officials.” During the third call, the the police issued an arrest warrant against Deepa Gupta and produced her at the Melbourne magistrate court last Friday. The court has passed a slew of instructions against Deepa and asked her to comply until the final order.

The accused has been asked to stay 200 metres away from any place where the protected person (Yogesh Gupta) lives or works. “The respondent must not commit family violence against the protected person, intentionally damage the gangster told Yogesh that he property, attempt to locate or would send his man to pick up keep them under surveillance, the money spent on the publish on the internet any surveillance, and in return provide material about the victim,” the some documentary evidence court said in its restraining order.

When this paper contacted the lawyer of accused Deepa Gupta, he refused to comment on the incident saying that he was yet to get complete details of the case. Yogesh and Deepa, both chartered accountants by profession, got divorced in Australia after 19 years of marriage. Their relatives in Delhi told this paper on condition of anonymity that Deepa was actively involved in politics in the national Capital and wanted to continue with her political career in India while Yogesh had settled in Australia. This disagreement, according to the relatives, led to their separation and Deepa filed a case of dowry harassment against Yogesh in India. The case is still pending in the court.

Yogesh said apparently his former wife wanted to cause him bodily harm and teach him a lesson but she probably ran out of money to pay the goons and he was saved by a stroke of luck. He also claimed that this was not the first time when an attempt to harm him was made. He, however, declined to give any further details.

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Orphaned rhino calf wants hug from its ‘parent’ THIS is the hilarious moment a huge rhino tried to clamber onto its keeper’s lap. Jamie Traynor, a manager at the rhino orphanage in South Africa, sat down beside one rhino only for another to try and rest its head on her lap. Video footage shows the playful rhinoceros trying to sit on Jamie’s lap as she laughs and gives it a cuddle. The Rhino Orphanage is a registered non-profit company based in the Limpopo Province and was founded by Arrie van Deventer in 2012. The orphanage is the first specialist, dedicated, noncommercial centre that cares for orphaned and injured baby rhinos with the aim of releasing them back into the wild. Jamie, 23, said: “The three rhinos in this video arrived at The Rhino Orphanage last year after their mothers were killed by poachers for their horns. “They have all had very different journeys since their arrival but they now have formed a very close bond with each other which will help them continue with their rehabilitation. “When the orphans at our facility are very young we become their surrogate moms which includes sleeping by their side, milk feeds every few hours and accompanying them out for walks in the bush. “In this video, I was out for a walk with Neni, Nandi and Thula and they decided to stop for a quick a quick nap or in Neni’s case, a belly rub! “The rhinos become very comfortable with us during their rehabilitation but human contact is also very strictly controlled to ensure that the rhinos can be released when they are ready. “Thula decided that it was time to take a nap so I sat down next to her. Neni then decided to come over and ask for a belly rub which he loves so much that he often lies down and rolls over like a dog for me to continue with the belly rub. “Nandi also came over to join the group and ended up lying down, putting me in the middle of all three.”

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Defiant migrants resist Rome cops Squatters throw rocks at riot police trying to evict refugees from square DEFIANT migrants throw rocks and bottles at riot police in Rome who turn on the water cannon to remove them from makeshift camp outside city’s main train station Migrants and refugees threw rocks, bottles and gas cans at police in riot gear who were clearing more than a hundred of them from a makeshift camp in Rome. They stood defiant in the face of the police’s powerful water cannons as they were cleared from a piazza near Termini station. The refugees occupied the small square in Rome in defiance of an order to leave an adjacent office building where as many as 800 had been squatting. Officials defended the decision to evict them, saying they refused to move to accommodation provided for them. TV footage showed some of the refugees — many from Eritrea — screaming and trying to hit police who were armed with batons and shields.

The square, just one block from Rome’s main train station, was strewn with mattresses, overturned rubbish bins and broken plastic chairs. Hung on the building they once occupied was a sheet with the words, “we are refugees, not terrorists”, in Italian. Police began clearing the building at dawn Saturday in the latest of several such operations as the city struggles to find accommodation for new migrants. On Sunday, the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) voiced “grave concern” over the mass eviction — a sign of the country’s growing frustration at Europe’s migrant crisis. It said 200 of those expelled from the building were forced to sleep on the streets in a city already home to hundreds of homeless refugees who fled persecution and war, including many children.

Commentators interpreted the unexpected eviction - carried out when Rome was virtually deserted - as a sign of hardening attitudes in Italy towards asylum seekers. Around 600,000 migrants have landed in Italy since 2014 - with more than 14,000 perishing on the treacherous route across the Mediterranean - but the country has seen a sharp fall in those arriving this year. Around 13,500 have arrived in Italy since July

1, compared to 30,500 over the same period in 2016, a year-onyear fall of more than 55 per cent. Italy’s reception facilities are still under massive strain and the centre-left government, facing elections next year, is under pressure on the issue.

Interior Minister Marco Minniti, who has ultimate responsibility for Saturday’s eviction, has recently overseen a series of controversial moves aimed at ending the crisis. These include

steps to curb the activity of charity and other privatelyfunded boats rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean and Italian naval support for Libyan coastguard efforts to intercept boats headed for Europe.

ISIS beheads 11 people at army checkpoint in Libya ISIS has claimed it beheaded at least 11 people at a checkpoint manned by forces of Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar. Haftar’s spokesman Colonel Ahmad alMesmari said at least nine soldiers and two civilians were executed after the extremists attacked the Al-Jufra region, around 500 km from Tripoli.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq propaganda channel on the Telegram messaging app, saying its fighters had killed or wounded “21 members of Haftar’s militia”. Libya has been rocked by chaos since the 2011 fall and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a

NATObacked revolution.

Jihadists, arms dealers and people traffickers have gained a foothold in the North African country as multiple authorities and dozens of militias vie for power. Forces allied with the United Nationsbacked Government of National Accord drove IS jihadists from their stronghold of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast in December. The GNA underlined at the time that the battle against Islamist rebels was not over, as armed groups

continue to hunt down IS members who fled Sirte as the

city fell. Analysts and military

sources say the group remains active in Libya, particularly in the desert south where the GNA holds little sway. Haftar, who backs a rival administration that refuses to recognise the GNA, controls much of the country’s vast southern desert.

His self-proclaimed Libyan National Army in May seized Tamenhant base near the southern city of Sebha after driving out a pro-GNA militia. The following month, it seized Al-Jufra, including a key

military air base, from the Benghazi Defence Brigades, a coalition that includes Islamists driven out of Libya’s second city by pro-Haftar forces. That placed the strongman in control of all the major cities and military bases in southern Libya. Also in July, Haftar announced the “total liberation” of Benghazi, three years after his forces launched a military operation to seize the city. But clashes have continued in the city, a bastion of the 2011 uprising that later fell to jihadists. Forces loyal to Haftar regularly blame attacks against them on ISIS, particularly in Benghazi.

Issue 734 (20) continued from page 1 They were naked and were having sex. They were shocked when they saw me. Baba had threatened me not to reveal anything and had said that I will be killed,” Gupta, who was previously a Dera follower, alleged before this reporter. Honeypreet Insan, alias Priyanka Taneja, has a controversial past. Sources say she married Gupta, a moneyed man, in 1999. She grew close to Ram Rahim and in 2009 moved a dowry harassment case against her inlaws. Gupta too went to court but he retracted his charges and settled the matter. The Dera chief adopted Priyanka, and gave her the name Honeypreet. “Honeypreet was adopted by Baba as he had bad intentions. He sexually exploited her as she was beautiful,” claimed Gupta, who now lives in secrecy, allegedly following threats from members of the sect. Gupta claimed he and his parents were

PRIYANKA TO PAPA’S ANGEL, THE RISE OF HONEYPREET

compelled to leave the Dera and started living in Haryana’s Panchkula district. He alleged that earlier he and Honeypreet accompanied Ram Rahim wherever the self-styled godman would go, but the Baba did not let her sleep with Gupta. She and Ram Rahim would sleep together in one room, he claimed. Gupta got married to Priyanka, a resident

of Fatehabad, on Valentine’s Day in 1999. “Baba had thrown a big party at the goofa the same year and had later announced that he was adopting my wife and I would be his son-inlaw,” Gupta claimed.

On her social media accounts, Honeypreet describes herself as, “Papa’s Angel, philanthropist, director, editor, actress!

Passionate to transform my

Rockstar Papa’s directions into actions!” She has over a million followers on Twitter and more than five lakh on Facebook. She drew interest after being pictured accompanying Ram Rahim in a chopper from court to jail after his conviction. Singh has two biological daughters – Amanpreet and Charanpreet – with his wife Harjeet Kaur, as well as a son, Jasmeet

Insan. Ram Rahim’s conviction last week led to deadly riots by his followers, with about three dozen people being killed and hundreds injured. The authorities took no chances on the day of his sentencing, deploying thousands of riot police on the streets, closing schools and shutting down internet services in Haryana and parts of neighbouring Punjab. Ram Rahim

faces more trouble as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing two cases against him pertaining to conspiring in murders and a third over alleged castration of 400 Dera followers at the sect’s headquarters in Haryana’s Sirsa.

Singh could be awarded a life sentence in the murder cases, with the trial near completion. The castration case is still being probed.

‘Our Baba targeted for good work’

on Pakistan in his movie, Hind Ka Napak Ko Jawab MSG Lion Heart-2 . Some blame the drug cartel for his current ordeal as they believe ‘Guruji’ reduced the drug menace by convincing people to not use them. Narottam Das, principal at the Boys’ school in Sriganganagar’s Gurdar Modia village, told to India Today, “It is a 100 per cent false accusation. Guruji is not this type of saint. He is a multitalented personality. The drug sellers and many other anti-social people were against Guruji. They had been planning to put Guruji in jail for many years. Thirty lakh were

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan WITH the special CBI court holding Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh guilty of rape, and accusations of murder and castration leveled against him, several Dera supporters feel that the man they considered god, has been treated unfairly. Ever since the verdict on August 25, the persecution complex has gripped hundreds of supporters with conspiracy theories abound.

There are scores of followers who

would go to any length to blame anyone but their ‘baba’. They believe he is someone who can do no wrong, and that the ‘pitaji’ is being targeted for his good work and for going after societal evils. Some very bizarre theories have begun to float around regarding what could have led to Ram Rahim’s arrest and conviction. One theory suggests that China or Pakistan could be behind his ordeal. As the Dera chief had showed surgical strikes

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Gurmeet’s son to call the shots at Dera now

THE Dera chief’s sentencing has left his family members and followers in a fix. His mother Naseeb Kaur, 82, called for an emergency meeting of the core committee of Dera’s administrative affairs on Monday and announced Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s only son Jasmeet Singh, 33, to be his legal heir.

“The committee has 45 members who handle the Dera affairs.

Naseeb announced Jasmeet to be Dera’s next nominee and asked the committee members to start the nomination process within a couple of days. She also slammed the committee for not handling the rape cases pertaining to the Dera head efficiently,” a highly placed Dera source told India TV Today. The source added that Naseeb has appealed to followers to accept Jasmeet as the Dera nominee.

She said that people may not accept him as their spiritual guru, he will now be managing all Dera affairs. Kaur also equated her son to Guru Gobind Singh, who was compelled to leave Anandpur Sahib when things were not in his favour. Another source said Dera chief had himself announced Jasmeet his legal heir in 1990, when he got embroiled in a controversy for wearing a dress of Guru Gobind Singh. The founder of Dera Sacha Sauda Shah ji Satnam had announced that given to a person to give false witness against him.” Some also blame the CBI, the investigating agency, which played a significant role in securing conviction against the selfproclaimed Godman. “About that, I have to say some mistake has been made somewhere in the investigation. Had a thorough investigation taken place (by the CBI), the verdict would not have been this,” says a childhood friend of Ram Rahim in Gursar Modia.

The staunch followers are not even willing to accept that some of them were responsible for the mayhem caused in Haryana. “The

violence was due to some miscreants who went on a rampage. Our (Dera) followers were calm. Those who indulged in violence may have come from outside,” says a Dera supporter who had gone to Panchkula on the day of the verdict. “I have studied with him from class 1 till class 10. His disposition was very good. He was inclined towards spiritualism from the very start.

He was good in studies and sports as well. We used to eat, play together. I never felt he was capable of the things he has been accused of,’ says Jagdev Singh, Gurmeet Singh’s first cousin.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim will head the cult group till the age of 60.

Shah Satnam had made this announcement in 1990 while handing over the Dera to him. But now that Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been sentenced to 20 years, it will not be easy for him to run the Dera affairs. Sources say his legal heirs have already started flexing muscles to stake claim on his empire, the value of which is estimated to be in thousands of crores. While his son Jasmeet, daughters Charanpreet, 36, and Amarpreet , 35, are his legal heirs, his foster daughter Honeypreet ,42, can also claim his properties.

While none have so far made their claims public, a legal battle seems inevitable. Jasmeet is the top contender as both the daughters are married. He heads the sports department in Dera and is popular among the followers.

Honeypreet has been seen with him on many occasions.

According to sources in the IT Department, there are over 250 Dera properties all over the world, out of which 131 are located in Haryana. The properties include Dera Sacha Sauda Complex in Sirsa, an air conditioned market, several schools and colleges, cricket stadiums, a five star hotel, factories, a cinema complex, restaurant, 700 acres of agricultural land, three hospitals, an eye bank and gas station.

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29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

ISIS threatens to strike Pope, Rome ISIS has released a new propaganda video showing its fighters stamping on busts of Jesus, ripping pictures of the Pope in half and promising to

come to Rome. Filmed mostly in the Philippines — where the jihadist group has been fighting a battle with the government for control of the city of Marawi —

the latest ‘Inside the Khilafah’ video focuses on conflict between Christianity and Islam.

The narrator, speaking with an American accent, praises ‘the truthful soldiers of Mohammed’ who have fought to conquer territory in East Asia while ISIS members are shown wrecking a church. One of the criminals — named ‘Abu Jindal’ — looks straight at the camera and says in English: “Remember this, you kuffar (an extremely offensive term for nonMuslims) — we will be in Rome, we will be in Rome, inshallah (god willing)”.

Meanwhile, decorations in the church — including a statue of Jesus on the cross and one of Mary — are torn down and destroyed. Pictures of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis are also shown being torn up and thrown to the ground. The church is last seen in flames, with the narrator explaining: “After all their efforts, it would be the religion of the cross that would be broken.” He adds: “The crusaders’ enmity toward the Muslims only served to embolden a generation of youth.”

The obsession with Rome dates back to the birth of Islam, when

California man caught trying to smuggle Bengal tiger cub A BENGAL tiger cub travelling from Mexico to California was confiscated by U.S. border officials on August 16. Luis Eudoro Valencia, 18, a U.S. citizen from Perris, California, was charged on August 17 with unlawful importation and smuggling, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Agents allegedly found the cub lying on the floor of the 2017 Chevy Camaro on the passenger side while doing a routine inspection at about 1.30am on August 16 at the Otay Mesa border crossing, southeast of San Diego, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Valencia told the court that he purchased the tiger for $300 (‘19,000) from someone he met in the Mexican border city of Tijuana who was walking a fullsized tiger on a leash. All species of tigers are listed as

endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and are protected. To legally import an endangered species into the United States requires a permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and a declaration filed with the agency. Prosecutors say Valencia lacked both. U.S. Fish

& Wildlife Service officials took custody of the cub and are working with the San Diego Zoo to care for it. The Bengal tiger is found primarily in India with smaller populations in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar.

There are fewer than 3,000 left in the wild.

Arab soldiers attempted to conquer the Byzantine (or Roman) Empire in what is today the Levant and Turkey during a long and bloody war. In 846, Arab raiders attacked the outskirts of the city and sacked Old St Peter’s and St Paul’s-Outsidethe-Walls but were never able to take the whole of Rome. The video also attacks the United States, with the narrator

stressing: “America does not liberate — it can only obliterate.”

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte is said to have run to his ‘master’ — the USA — and his master’s ‘guard dog’, Australia.

ISIS is losing more and more ground in its Syrian and Iraqi heartland. In Marawi, however, the battle rages on — with hundreds of people already killed.

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29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

India & China smoke peace pipe in Doklam

INDIA and China on Monday withdrew their troops from Doklam, ending the two month standoff between their armies as the two sides agreed to maintain status quo in the area where China wanted to build a road.

The breakthrough in talks was achieved after a series of parleys between the two sides, which started during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brief meeting with Xi Jinping in Hamburg where the two sides decided to hold NSA-level talks to resolve the issue.

However, the standoff at couple of other locations on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is still there, but top level government sources said the two sides would withdraw from these positions after holding flag meeting, scheduled to take place anytime soon. “As two mature nations, India and China, decided to pull back troops from the Doklam area where the Indian side as a goodwill gesture returned to its positions first. Afterwards, the Chinese also returned to to their locations with all their troops and equipment,” top sources told this paper here. Chinese and Indian troops were engaged in the

stand-off since June 16 after New Delhi objected to a road project that Beijing was trying to build which would have brought them close to the Siliguri corridor.

Giving out details of the troop withdrawal, sources said it began after a local level flag meeting beyween two Colonelrank officers of the two sides and both parties agreed to pull back to the pre-June 15

status in the Doklam area.

Another flag meeting would be held soon after which the two sides would withdraw troops from stand-off positions in the Yatung and Phari Dzong areas on the LAC, sources added.

Highly placed government sources said NSA Ajit Doval held an hour-long meeting with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jeichi to diffuse the situation and continued the discussions

during their meeting during the BRICS NSAs meeting in Beijing. Sources said Prime Minister Modi, who would be meeting Jinping during the BRICS meeting in China early next month, had taken a firm stand on the matter and backed his security team headed by NSA Ajit Doval for a diplomatic solution. “Despite the pressure from both the Chinese and internal quarters, the Prime Minister maintained his firm stand on the dispute and showed to the world that India and China are two mature democracies which can sort out their issues through dialogue.” “As per the instructions from the top leadership, the Indian side maintained silence and did not even respond to the claims which sometimes were way too nasty as they wanted a peaceful resolution of the problem,” the sources added. Sources also stated that Prime Minister Modi, during his visit to China, may hold seperate meetings with Jinping in order to resume engagements that were till now inactive due to the Doklam stand-off.

Ronaldo posts snaps of his growing family

CRISTIANO Ronaldo posted an adorable photo with his growing family on Sunday. The Real Madrid footballer, the 32year-old looked incredibly proud as he posed with his newborn twins Eva and Mateo, eldest son Cristiano Junior, seven, and his pregnant 22year-old girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez. Captioning the photo ‘family mood’, the football ace smiled as he tenderly held one of his twins, while Georgina cradled the other. Little Cristiano Junior grinned as he crouched behind the back of the sofa. The handsome father pulled a baseball cap low over his face, and sported a glowing tan as he displayed his muscular legs in a tiny pair of shorts. Georgina, who has been dating Ronaldo since last year, showed off her laidback glamour in a pair of towelling shorts and vest. Cristiano was recently forced to sit out of five matches after being issued a ban. The athlete had scored against Barcelona in his team’s first leg clash with side, but was later sent off after picking up two yellow cards during the game. Ronaldo was then seen to push the referee and found himself reprimanded with the multiple match ban — a decision he deemed as ‘ridiculous’ while venting in an Instagram post.

Ronaldo’s appearance at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium come after he revealed his hopes to have seven children,

after being inspired by his eldest son, seven-year-old Cristiano Junior. The proud dad — who is also father to newborn twins Eva and Mateo — has admitted his eldest son wants six siblings, making a match in heaven for Cristiano’s CR7 fashion brand named after his initials and his football shirt number. He is said to have made the admission during a Chinese TV interview picked up by papers in Portugal, as daily paper Correio da Manha quoted the star to say: “Cristiano is very happy. He’s doing well. He wants more brothers and sisters. He wants seven, the magic number, and I think that’s good.” Ronaldo confirmed the arrival of his twin children via a sweet Instagram post of himself and Cristiano Junior cradling the tots and later insisted he is ‘very happy’ after learning girlfriend Georgina is carrying his fourth child.

Georgina, who is said to be five months pregnant and expecting a girl, recently revealed how she is preparing for the birth of her little one. In an interview with Spanish glossy magazine Hola, Georgina gushed: “I’m a real family person. I love children, nature and animals. “In my day to day life, I like to take care of myself doing sport and eating a balanced diet. I try to eat natural products and avoid heavy meals and follow a Mediterranean diet.

I don’t follow a strict diet as such because I do love a treat now and again.”

71 killed as Rohingya militants attack Myanmar post AT LEAST 71 people, including 12 security personnel, were killed as Rohingya militants besieged border posts in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar’s authorities said Friday — the highest declared single day toll since fighting broke out last year. The western state is bisected by religious hatred focused on the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, who are reviled by many Buddhists and perceived as illegal immigrants. Friday’s fighting exploded around Rathedaung township, where there has been a heavy build up of Myanmar troops in recent weeks, with

reports filtering out of killings by shadowy groups, armyblockaded villages and a renewed exodus of refugees heading towards neighbouring Bangladesh. Some 20 police posts came under attack in the early hours of Friday by an estimated 150 insurgents, some carrying guns and using homemade explosives, Myanmar’s military said. The military and police members are fighting back together against extremist Bengali terrorists, Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing said in a statement on Facebook, using the state’s description for Rohingya

militants. The office of de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said 12 security officials had been killed alongside 59 militants.

One resident in Maungdaw, the main town in northern Rakhine, said gunfire could be heard throughout the night. “We are

still hearing gunshots now, we dare not to go out from our house,” the resident said on phone, asking not to be named.

Despite years of persecution, the Rohingya largely eschewed violence. But a previously unknown militant group emerged as a force last October under the banner of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which claims to be leading an insurgency based in the remote May Yu mountain range bordering Bangladesh. Myanmar says the group is headed by Rohingya jihadists who were trained abroad but it is unclear how large the network is.

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29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

You let go the past and move into the new current for the future. A professional move or a residential change is likely. Inner transformation brings changes in values, priorities and attitudes that affect your personal relationships.

You experience some happy times at home and progressive developments at work that are reassuring after the decisions you make. Sudden and unexpected happenings should be viewed from a higher perspective. As you let go fixed ideas, judgments and attachments on a deep level and move towards new relationships and professional opportunities there is love and success in your life.

You are likely to plan celebrations with just a few important people, family, loved ones and friends at home. You have a need to feel secure among them and people you work with. You gain money and influence in projects that assures your stability and earthy power for time to come.

You are in good physical shape and can cope with busy, taxing work schedules and social involvements. You bring law and order in chaotic situations in the work area and organize a springcleaning blitz in the home. A work associate is supportive professionally but interferes with your association with important people.

After the hectic professional and social activity last week you feel depleted, tend to think negatively and undermine your confidence. You make unstable efforts to achieve success, but better stay firm with your decisions and not keep vacillating. You enjoy partial success in a project as you give up at the brink of winning due to lack of energy and trust.

Beware of an untrustworthy person in the family.

Avoid being political or double-faced in any area of life, as you don’t gain from it. It’s important to retain your self-esteem and display dynamic aspects and leadership qualities that you possess.

You may feel blocked by rules, regulations, legalities, traditions or traditional people this week. Go around them, and do what you want to rather than encounter them directly and waste time in conflicts. You initiate a current of force to achieve professional and personal goals and ward off any attempts by others to foul up your plans. Avoid being restless and impatient when confronted by blocks.

Beware of an obstinate person in the family who can be destructive. A loved one has the strength to support you in a controversy. Spend time with people you love and in activity you enjoy.

A brief, unplanned vacation rejuvenates your energy and personal relationships this week. A special work assignment is short in duration but brings great success and exposure. Your social life is scintillating as you connect with well-known personalities, fun loving people and indulge in art, music and entertainment. Media exposure brings a bit of fame as you climb the ladder of success.

It’s good to focus on priorities and relationships that are important or you could confuse yourself and others. You are likely to invest in a luxury that brings a temporary thrill in your life.

You dominate professional scenes with brilliant and clever plans this week. You tend to be changeable and elusive with an interest in far too many aspects that can divide your energy. Beware of supporting various and contradictory opinions or you end up slaying as fast as you create. You are youthful and energetic when indulging in sporty activity and busy schedules.

Your social life is scintillating as you connect with well-known personalities. You need not over analyse personal relationships but rather respond with your heart and deep feelings. Only then can you expect love and care from your partner.

You have the tiger by the tail as you take control of business and private affairs this week. You are individualistic, brilliant and daring in your field of activity and make an impact in important meetings and seminars. A romantic involvement is likely to flower into commitment or marriage. Sporty pastimes and creative activity can be invigorating. Your enthusiasm and spontaneity are catching and endearing. This is a good time to encounter difficult people or situations as you are received well and can bring about compromise and harmony.

You resolve deadlocks at work and deal with important issues at home with calm authority this week. Being flexible and adaptable in personal and family situations brings loved ones closer. You attract a lot of interesting people with your charisma and gift of communication. Your social life is busy and exciting.

You are generous and giving to friends, loved ones and family but impatient of opposition. Love and romance enhance and rejuvenate a personal relationship that is important to you. You are blessed with good health and are able to indulge in sporty pastimes. Give yourself a short break to relax.

Health and finances need to be conserved at this point and practical details to be dealt with clearly and efficiently.

You may be involved in meetings and encounters with business associates as deals and transactions are in process. Express your views, terms and conditions without being afraid of losing a contract or opportunity as you are dealing with astute and clever businessmen who can manipulate you into accepting a bad deal.

Personal relationships need to be reinforced with tender, loving care. Your social life may be restricted to business obligations.

Financial deals and settlements can be suitably conducted, as people concerned are receptive and flexible at this point.

You need to be subtle and sensitive in family situations and personal relationships, as people tend to get hurt easily and misunderstand you. It’s best to take your time, list priorities and then make decisions rather than be over anxious and speedy.

Unfinished business or personal relationships can be resolved with a bit of diplomacy and tact. A person at work can be overbearing but supports you through thick and thin. Formal social occasions keep you busy this week.

You are patient, clever and laborious while completing professional projects and financial contracts this week. Mastery of your craft brings appreciation and new work opportunities. You play the role of consultant and advisor and share your knowledge and expertise. There is love, strength, happiness and support in your personal relationship. You begin the week with loved ones and close friends. Travel and change are on the cards! Let go expectations and illusions about yourself and other people and accept yourself the way you are.

A new perspective and outlook brings inner transformation and changes in your life this week! It’s best not to be unrealistic about goals and targets. You need to 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.

Endings and beginnings are on the cards! A positive attitude in relationships brings healing and love. Redecorating home or office space can bring fresh energy. Rescheduling plans and routines may be for the better. Beware of ego conflicts. You celebrate an event in an unusual way!

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29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Technology SC ruling on right to privacy has no Twitterati celebrate as direct impact on WhatsApp, Facebook hashtag turns 10

New Delhi The Supreme Court’s judgment declaring the Right to Privacy a fundamental right will have no direct impact on WhatsApp and Facebook, a cyber security expert said on Thursday.

“The reason for this is Facebook and WhatsApp are private entities. These private entities don’t get covered under the ambit of fundamental rights as they are enforced under Part 3 of the Indian constitution and they are only enforceable to state action,” Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert, told IANS. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had restrained WhatsApp from sharing with Facebook the user information existing upto September 25, 2016 when its new privacy policy came into effect.

“WhatsApp has to completely delete all data of users who chooses to opt out of the instant messaging app after the coming into force of its new privacy policy,” the court had ruled.

The Supreme Court on Friday declared that right to privacy was a fundamental right and protected as an intrinsic part of life and personal liberty and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

Rejecting the government’s contention that privacy was not a fundamental right, a nine-judge Constitution bench unanimously overturned two earlier rulings in the M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh cases that held that the right to privacy was not protected by the Constitution.

“That effectively means if the state violates the fundamental rights, you can challenge them

Capture 360-degree photos using Facebook app San Francisco Making 360-degree photos more of a common experience, Facebook has rolled out an update letting

users capture 360-degree photos using its in-app camera.

The update has been rolled out in both iOS and Android and includes the abilities to zoom and tag friends.

According to a TechCrunch report on Wednesday, these 360-degree images or those

from any other sources can be used as “Cover Photos”.

All that users need to do to take a 360-degree photos is open the Facebook app and click the “360 Photo” option from the top of the News Feed.

After pressing the option, they need to follow the path from start to finish until they have taken a complete panorama.

Users also have an option to select their preferred “starting view” within the photo.

“Capturing 360-degree using the Facebook camera is designed to be as easy as possible, too, with Facebook employing computer vision to automatically stitch the photo after you rotate your phone to capture it panorama-style,” the report added.

in a court of law. A private person is not an instrumentality of the state,” Duggal said.

According to him, the ramifications of this judgment on the digital and mobile ecosystem will be “fascinating” to examine.

“Because in physical world, privacy is a well understood concept but privacy in the digital world is not defined,” he said, adding that the government has to quickly wake up to the reality of the connection between privacy and cybersecurity.

WhatsApp had informed the High Court that when a user account was deleted, the information of that person was no longer retained on its servers.

IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government does not give the right to release data to anyone, except in case of compelling public interest.

“There are 118 crore mobile connections. There are 50 crore plus smartphones. India will be a global digital power and we can take good care of our cyber security and safety. I am very happy that all the big international companies are coming to India in a big way.

There is Google, Facebook, WhatsApp... they are all welcome,” the minister said.

New Delhi Touted as one of the most widely used symbols in the digital age, the famous hashtag of Twitter turned 10 on Wednesday.

Born on August 23, 2007, the hashtag was originally meant to simply ‘tag’ or categorise tweets.

The micro-blogging platform celebrated the occasion by inviting its users to tweet #Hashtag10, which would enable a custom ‘#’ (hashtag) emoji.

In India, Cricket hashtag #IPL, TV show BiggBoss #BB10 and movie #Sultan were among the most tweeted hashtags of all time, the company said in a statement.

“From social movements like #ChennaiFloods to fans of TV show BiggBoss #BB10, and iconic sporting events like the

#IPL, India’s top hashtags is a unique mix that speaks to India’s culture, sense of identity and passion.

It’s #whatshappening,” said Taranjeet Singh, Country Director, Twitter India.

Twitter user Chris Messina, on this day 10 years ago, tweeted #barcamp — the first time a hashtag was used.

Today, an average of 125 million hashtags are shared globally every day on the platform.

The most popular hashtags worldwide are #NowPlaying which was used over one billion times, #FollowFriday (over half billion times) and #ThrowbackThursday (over 120 million times). #TheWalkingDead was the most tweeted television show hashtag of all time and in the movies category, it was #StarWars.

Snapchat plans to move into scripted content San Francisco Photo-sharing platform Snapchat is likely to move into scripted content through its shows by the end of year.

A report in the Variety on Wednesday quoted Snapchat’s head of content Nick Bell as saying that the company was not helping to drive a stake into the heart of traditional broadcasters.

“Instead, it can help bolster them,” Bell said.

He added that mobile was the most complementary thing to TV that has been around.

He clarified that Snapchat was not a “TV killer.”

“We’re really capturing the audience who are not probably consuming TV at the same rate and pace of engagement that they once were,” Bell was quoted as saying.

According to Bell, the Snapchat Show offshoot to “The Voice”

helped boost the NBC programme’s viewer numbers.

He claimed that his goal was to turn a smartphone into “the remote control for your TV consumption.”

“The scripted fare will conform to Snapchat’s view that long-form content isn’t suited to mobile, which Bell sees as fundamentally a new medium.

The optimum length for Snapchat videos remains three to five minutes,” the report explained.

Currently, Snapchat is relying on its partners to finance video

content rather than commissioning on its own.

“We’re still in early stages, and that certainly bodes well for the future,” Bell said. ”Beyond complementing television, Snapchat could also fit into the movie ecosystem, particularly with regard to studio tentpoles and franchises,” he added.

Earlier in June, Snap and cable television company Time Warner announced to produce shows for the social media platform as part of a two-year deal valued at $100 million. Aiming to connect with young audiences who consume data on-the-go, Snapchat in July launched headline news show “Stay Tuned” that are broadcast twice a day.

The broadcast features four or five segments focused on the top national and international stories of the day.

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MT EXCLUSIVE: Force may sack seaman posted in Vizag who had gender surgery to become a woman after joining service

NAVY SAILOR CHANGES SEX MIDSTREAM

IN ONE of the rarest of rare cases in the military, a serving Navy sailor has undergone gender reassignment surgery and become a woman, prompting the maritime force to initiate action for her discharge as females cannot work in defence services as soldiers. The matter has emerged at a time when the armed forces are grappling with complexities related to induction of women in combat roles and framing a comprehensive policy for giving females wider responsibilities in the services. “A few months ago, this sailor decided to change his sex and turn into a woman.

He came in contact with some outsiders and underwent an operation on his own, spending his own money to become a woman,” a senior Navy source told this

paper. Sex reassignment is a surgical procedure by which transgender persons’ physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble that socially associated with their identified gender. The sailor, who is posted at INS Eksila base of the Navy in Visakhapatnam, now wears saris and has grown her hair out while in service.

“We have recommended her discharge from service and proceedings in this regard have been initiated and she would quit soon,” the source said. Officials in the Navy said till the time the sailor gets discharged from the force, she has been given lighter responsibilities as women cannot be employed in seafaring duties since this is not yet permitted in the force. In May this year, the US government released from prison a former army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act. Bradley Manning delivered hundreds of thousands of classified documents that he found troubling to WikiLeaks, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. In 2014, Manning, who is transgender, was granted the right to be legally recognised as Chelsea Elizabeth Manning. Sources said the Vizag sailor is attached with the office of the commanding officer of

INS Eksila, which falls under the force’s eastern naval command. They added that the seaman, who is from the engineering branch of the Navy, told the authorities that he was feeling “like a woman trapped in a man’s body” and that is why he underwent the surgery. The sailor, sources said, is satisfied with the Navy’s decision to discharge her as the rules in the force do not allow women to serve in ranks below the officer cadre. this paper could not reach the lady sailor for her com ments. Sources said the sailor was married before the sex change operation but more details are not available. Senior Navy sources said recruitment rules for sailors mandate that the candidate appearing for the recruitment has to be a male and, therefore, there is no issue in relieving her from service. The Navy Act, which has rules to handle such cases, does not

provide for dealing with or punishing such personnel who undergo sex change.Navy sources in Delhi said the case has also

been taken up with the ministry of defence as this is an unprecedented situation.

“We have asked the government on the action to be taken by us regarding the sailor as she has spent her own money to change sex,” a Navy source said. Navy soldiers who have worked with the sailor say there is awkwardness while working with her as she had served with them shoulder to shoulder in the force.

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29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

Three Indo-Americans to be honoured at 18th IACCGH gala in Houston Washington An arrest warrant has been issued by a Los Angeles judge for Bikram Choudhury, the Indian American “hot” yoga guru, as he failed to pay more than $7 million in 2016 to his former lawyer who was the victim in a sexual

harassment case against him.

Reportedly, Choudhury has not paid the lawyer and authorities believe that he has hidden his assets and left the country, ABC

News said on Wednesday.

According to the report, the warrant, issued on Wednesday, allows authorities to arrest Choudhury if he returns to the US or, possibly, in Mexico. In 2016, the 69-year-old yoga guru had claimed last year that he was

nearly bankrupt as his business was no longer thriving.

In January 2016, a jury determined that Choudhury had sexually harassed and then

Trump tells Mattis to indefinitely ban transgender recruits in US military

Washington President Donald Trump on Friday directed the Pentagon to extend indefinitely a ban on transgender individuals joining the military, but he appeared to leave open the possibility of allowing some already in uniform to remain.

Trump gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis authority to decide the matter of openly transgender individuals already serving, and he said that until the Pentagon chief makes that decision, “no action may be taken against” them.

The Obama administration in June 2016 had changed longstanding policy, declaring that troops could serve openly as transgender individuals. And it set a July 2017 deadline for determining whether transgender people could be allowed to enter the military. Mattis delayed that to Jan. 1, 2018, and Trump has now instructed Mattis to extend it indefinitely.

But on the question of what will happen to those transgender individuals who already are serving openly - estimated to number in the low hundreds Trump seemed to leave wiggle room for exceptions. A White House official who briefed reporters on the presidential

order would not say whether Trump would permit any exceptions.

That official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said Mattis has been directed to take a number of factors into consideration in determining how to deal with transgender individuals already serving. Those factors are to include broad measures such as “military effectiveness,” budgetary constraints and “unit cohesion,” as well as other factors Mattis deems “relevant.”

It was not clear whether that means it is possible for Mattis to come to the conclusion that some transgender troops should be allowed to remain.

Trump gave Mattis six months to come up with a policy on those currently serving, and he must implement it by March 23, 2018, the official said.

In a tweet last month, Trump said the federal government “will not accept or allow” transgender individuals to serve “in any capacity” in the military.

Carl Tobias, a legal expert at the University of Richmond’s School of Law, said he interprets the Trump directive as leaving open the chance for some transgender servicemembers to stay.

unfairly fired Minakshi “Miki” JafaBodden, his onetime lawyer. He was ordered to pay nearly $6.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $924,000 in compensatory damages.

Jafa-Bodden was general counsel to Bikram’s Yoga College of India but was fired after refusing to cover up allegations that Bikram had raped and sexually assaulted a yoga student. “I feel vindicated,” she told ABC News in 2016.

She convinced the jury that Choudhury had repeatedly sexually harassed her and subjected her to obscene comments about women. JafaBodden also claimed she was fired after she tried to investigate another woman’s sexual harassment and rape allegations against the yoga guru.

During the trial over JafaBodden’s allegations, Bikram strongly denied sexually assaulting any women. He also denied having any sexual contact with his students or followers. His bail was set at $8 million. Choudhury was one of the pioneers of yoga in the US, setting up shop in Beverly Hills in the 1970s. His client list included top celebrities like Madonna, Andy Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow and Goldie Hawn.

“To have that bench warrant issued for Bikram… It sends a message to a debtor like Bikram that he will be held accountable and that the wheels of justice, although they don’t turn as fast as we would want them to, they do turn,” she said.

His yoga studios are franchised worldwide. Outside of court on Wednesday, Jafa-Bodden celebrated her latest legal victory, saying: “It’s a win for women everywhere who’ve endured sexual harassment.”

New high-tech ‘yarn’ could make electricity

MIAMI Researchers in the United States and South Korea have invented a new kind of yarn that can generate electricity when it is stretched or twisted, said a study.The material, called “twistron,” could be used to harvest energy from the motion of ocean waves, or from changes in temperature, said the report in the journal Science.“The easiest way to think of twistron harvesters is, you have a piece of yarn, you stretch it, and out comes electricity,” said coauthor Carter Haines, associate research professor at the University of Texas, Dallas.

The yarn is built from carbon nanotubes, which are hollow cylinders of carbon 10,000 times smaller in diameter than a human hair, acording to the report. In order to generate electricity, the yarns must be either submerged in or coated with an ionically conducting material, or electrolyte, which can be as simple as a mixture of ordinary table salt and water.

“When you insert the carbon nanotube yarn into an electrolyte bath, the yarns are charged by the electrolyte itself,” said coauthor Na Li, a research scientist at UT Dallas’s NanoTech

Institute.

“No external battery, or voltage, is needed.”

The research is still at an early stage, and scientists caution that the technology is not meant for large-scale electricity projects, at least not yet.

Instead, lab experiments have shown that “a twistron yarn weighing less than a housefly could power a small LED, which lit up each time the yarn was stretched,” said the report in Science.

Another experiment showed that when sewn into a shirt, the yarns served as a self-powered breathing monitor.

“There is a lot of interest in using waste energy to power the Internet of Things, such as arrays of distributed sensors,” Li said.

“Twistron technology might be exploited for such applications where changing batteries is impractical.” Other researchers involved with the project are affiliated with Hanyang University in South Korea.

The research was funded by the US Air Force, Nasa, the Office of Naval Research, the Robert A. Welch Foundation, the KoreaUS Air Force Cooperation Program and the Korean Ministry of Science.

Wrongly jailed ‘satanic’ daycare couple gets $3.4m CHICAGO A US couple wrongly jailed for 21 years on charges of sexually assaulting children as part of a satanic cult, received $3.4 million Wednesday from the state of Texas, months after prosecutors acknowledged their innocence.

Operators of a daycare facility, Dan and Fran Keller were at the center of a sensational case in 1991, accused by children of abuse and dark rituals that included dismembering babies and torturing pets.

Authorities later acknowledged that the children were improperly interviewed, triggering false memories, amid a climate of fear fueled by a belief around the nation that satanists were preying upon children.

The physician who claimed to have discovered physical evidence of abuse also acknowledged in 2013 that he

had made a mistake in assessing the source of one of the children’s injuries.

The Kellers were freed from prison that year, but not fully cleared of the charges against them until last June, when

prosecutors finally declared them innocent.

By Texas law, both are entitled to $80,000 compensation for each year they spent in prison.

They picked up a $3.4 million payment on Wednesday, their lawyer Keith Hampton told AFP. “They are happy,” Hampton said.

The couple had been living in poverty since their release,

unable to find work in their advanced age and with their past legal troubles, according to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.

“This means we don’t have to worry about pinching pennies on Social Security, and late bills. It means we will actually be free.

We can start living - and no more nightmares,” Fran Keller, 67, told the newspaper.

She broke down in tears Tuesday in front of news cameras as she found out on the phone that the state would provide compensation.

“I really would like an apology from the state. But since we’re not going to get it verbally, this will be good enough,” the American-Statesman reported Fran Keller as saying.Between 1991 and mid-2016, Texas had paid 101 wrongfully convicted prisoners $93.6 million, according to the Texas Tribune.

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US boy copies film scene to save brother Pakistan’s Population Surges Michigan Hollywood star Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, has dubbed a 10-year-old boy a “reallife hero” after the youngster copied a scene from one of his films and saved his little brother’s life.

When Jacob O’Connor found two-year-old Dylan floating face-

down in the swimming pool he didn’t rush off and find a grown up to help, instead he remembered a move from one of his favourite films, San Andreas.

Jacob, from Roseville, Michigan, managed to pull his brother out of the pool and started giving him chest compressions - just as he’d seen The Rock doing in the film. Dylan was then rushed to hospital and went on to make a full recovery.

When he heard of Jacob’s amazing intervention, Dwayne Johnson tweeted: “Wow

amazing story....You’re a real life hero. We’re all proud of you! DJ”.

Jacob’s mother Christa O’Connor told the BBC: “I’m at a loss for words. I’m amazed at what Jacob did. I’m so proud of him.” She said her son was taking all the praise in his stride and added: “He just thinks it was the natural thing to do.

“Someone asked him if he thought he was a hero and he just said ‘I don’t know’.

“I’m surprised Jacob remembered what he’d seen in the film but it’s one of his favourites and he’d seen it the week before.”

The specific scene Jacob was copying was one in San Andreas where Johnson’s character tries to save his on screen daughter.

Jacob told local news media: “I was scared when I saw Dylan in the pool.”

“My favourite movie, San

Andreas, had compressions (CPR) in the movie and I remembered it from the part in the movie where there was an earthquake, then there was a tsunami, and the girl was drowning.

“In most movies, that’s what they do. They try to save the person first, and if it’s not working, they go get someone.” The boys along with their other brother Gavin, 8, were being looked after by their grandmother while their mother was at work, but Dylan managed to somehow get out unnoticed.

When Jacob spotted his brother was gone he went to investigate and found he’d managed to unlock two back doors to get into the garden and then walk around the corner to the swimming pool.

After Jacob’s life-saving resuscitation Dylan coughed up some water but because he didn’t respond fully Jacob ran to tell his grandmother.

She called an ambulance and Dylan was rushed to hospital. In the meantime his mother drove frantically from work to meet them there.

“He was unconscious and on oxygen when I got there,” she said, “and was kept in for two days. “But he’s well now and has no neurological damage or any lasting effects.”

After all the trauma the motherof-three can reflect positively on the accident, which happened at the end of last month. “Thankfully we’ve been so lucky and it’s like it never happened,” she said.

16-year-old girl who reunited with birth mother tortured, burnt to death Washington Investigators in the US have revealed how a 16-year-old girl, who reunited with her birth mother at a Missouri farm last year, was tortured, murdered and burned in a fire pit last month,

was in touch for years with her adoptive mother who in 2016 “agreed to take Savannah back and she was delivered to Ruud in Ozark County.”

While the two it appeared from Ruud’s Facebook feed that the

according to a Washington Post report. “Rebecca Ruud, 39, was arrested Monday by Ozark County sheriff’s deputies and charged, among other crimes, with the first-degree murder of Savannah Leckie, whom she had given up for adoption at birth, 16 years before,” the report said.

Leckie was adopted by a couple in Minnesota and lived with them till 2016. The couple, however, got divorced and the girl began having problems with her adoptive mother’s new boyfriend.

A sheriff’s deputy wrote Leckie

two were spending a good time together, a sheriff’s investigator wrote the girl’s new life was bleak.

“Savannah’s inability to adapt to life on the farm” irritated Ruud, the affidavit said.

“On July 18, Ruud reported a fire burning at the top of a hill on her property. Less than an acre of brush had burned, and firefighters put it out. But when they returned to the family’s makeshift living quarters and asked for water, Ruud refused, according to the affidavit. She

said Savannah got a small burn in the fire, and was laying down and couldn’t be disturbed,” the Washington Post reported.

Ruud later said the girl had run away. The police launched a search.

The girl’s remains were later found in a burn pit on the remote property.

Several searches of the property turned up human teeth, a meat grinder, a knife and 26 bottles of lye, which can be used to accelerate the breakdown of bodily tissue, according to court documents. Human bone fragments were found in a field about 400 yards (365 meters) from the home on August 4.

During that search, Ruud and her husband left the farm and got married.

A forensic analysis identified the remains as Savannah’s, the sheriff said.

Ruud’s ex-boyfriend, Buddy Smart, told investigators he had seen her discipline Savannah by forcing her to crawl through a hog pen and making her to bathe in a pond, the affidavit states. Ruud acknowledged that was true and told investigators that when Savannah cut her arm “in a suicidal gesture,” she forced the girl to scrub the wound daily with alcohol and salt as punishment.

to 207.77 Million, Increases by 57% in Last Two Decades

Islamabad As per the provisional census report released by Council of Common Interest (CCI), the population of Pakistan has boomed to 207.77 million, a whopping increase of 57 per cent since 1998, when the last census was conducted.

Among the provinces, those with the fastest expansion rate were found to be Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Dawn reported.

In terms of numbers, the most populous state of Pakistan remains Punjab, which houses an approximate population of 110 million people.

Here are some key facts revealed in the provincial census report: – Following Punjab, the maximum number of Pakistanis reside in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (47.9 million). The third most populous state is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with a population of 30.5 million. The population of Balochistan wavers around 12 million. However, the province witnesses the lowest population density, occupying 44 per cent

of the territorial area of Pakistan.

5 million Pakistanis are settled in Fata region, lying on the borders of Afghanistan, making it the least populated province of the nation.

An increase in the urban-rural ratio was observed in all administrative units except Islamabad, which nonetheless remained the second most urbanised unit of the country, the provisional data stated.

Over 52 per cent of Sindh’s residents live in urban areas, which has surpassed the capital territory as the most urbanised territory of Pakistan. Close to 36.4 per cent of Pakistanis live in urban areas, the provisional results revealed.

Data from the disputed regions of Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistanoccupied-Kashmir was not part of the provincial census results.

It is expected to be included in the final results.The census report holds importance in the wake of upcoming parliamentary elections, as constituencies of national assembly are expected to be redrawn as per the revised population.

Facebook, Instagram Down in Australia, Japan And USA, Miffed Users Show Anger on Twitter

Washington Facebook, world’s biggest social media platform, on Saturday was found down on the internet leaving many users baffled. While several Persons complained they were unable to access their accounts, few said they could not upload their picture on its feed. Facebook currently has more than 2 billion users across the world.

Similar incidents were reported from Australia, Brazil and Japan.

As per Downdetector.com, a website dedicated to reporting

outages said the Facebook was receiving 1,869 reports of outages. Facebook, till the writing of this report, has not issued any clarification on the issue. Miffed by the outage, few users resorted to Twitter to express their anguish.

However, it was not the first instance where Facebook faced such problems. The website was detected with similar problems a few days ago. Another social media platform owned by Facebook, Instagram was also reported to be down.

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Fugitive Don Dawood Ibrahim on UK Asset Freeze List With 3 Pak Addresses, 21 Aliases London/New Delhi The British government on Monday announced that it will continue financial sanctions on fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, wanted in India for various acts of crime and terrorism, including the 1993 serial Mumbai blasts.

Dawood remains as the only “Indian national” on an updated list of financial sanctions released by the UK which also listed 21 aliases for the underworld don.

The mafia boss is on the UK Treasury department’s ‘Çonsolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets’ in the UK which was updated on Monday. In the list, Dawood has three addresses from Pakistan, where he is reportedly based.

Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar who left Mumbai almost three decades ago is living in Pakistan after the 1993 serial Mumbai blast. Prior to 1993, Dawood had set up his base in Dubai from where he operated his gang.

A PTI report said that Dawood is recorded to have lived at: White

House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan; House No 37, 30th Street – Defence Housing Authority, Karachi; and Noorabad, Karachi,

blast case in Mumbai in which around 260 people were killed and over 700 were injured.

Several reports claimed that he has taken refuge in Pakistan but

Pakistan (Palatial bungalow in the hilly area).

Last year the investigating agency also found the address of House no 29, Margalla Road, F 6/2 Street no 22, Karachi, Pakistan, but it is no longer a part of the records of UK government, PTI reported.

Dawood Ibrahim is the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb

the neighbouring country has repeatedly denied his presence in the country.

Dawood was born in Kher, Ratnagiri and his nationality is listed as “Indian” with a recorded Indian passport which was later revoked by the Ministry of Home Affairs in India.

The listing also records 21 aliases used by Dawood: Abdul,

Indian-origin fund manager’s insider trading conviction upheld New York An Indian-origin portfolio manager, who is serving a nineyear jail term for his role in the most lucrative insider trading scheme in the US, has lost his bid to overturn his conviction after an appeals court ruled that there was “overwhelming” evidence

against him.Mathew Martoma, 43, was convicted in 2014 for his role as the “central figure” in the most lucrative insider trading scheme ever charged involving $ 275 million in illegal profits.Martoma, who had changed his name from Ajai Mathew Thomas, had served as a portfolio manager of CR Intrinsic Investors, a division of hedge fund behemoth SAC Capital, led by billionaire Steven Cohen.Martoma had been charged with collecting confidential information about a high-profile Alzheimer’s drug trial from two doctors and making profits and avoiding losses of 275 million dollars for SAC Capital.

In appealing against the conviction, Martoma argued that

the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction but a three-judge bench at the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision yesterday that the “government presented overwhelming evidence that at least one tipper received a financial benefit from

providing confidential information to Martoma.”Former US Attorney Preet Bharara had led the government’s case against Martoma and his successor at the Southern District of New York Acting US Attorney Joon Kim welcomed the Second Circuit’s affirmation of the conviction.“We are gratified by the Second Circuit’s affirmation of Mathew Martoma’s conviction. The strength of our securities markets rests on their integrity and fairness.”

“And the successful prosecution of those who cheat by trading on illegally obtained inside information, as Martoma did to the tune of over USD 275 million, is critical to maintaining that integrity and fairness in our

markets,” Kim said in a statement.SAC had pleaded guilty to insider trading and agreed to pay USD 1.8 billion to settle the criminal and civil charges against it. It changed its name to Point72 Asset Management and now only manages the personal wealth of its founder Cohen, who has not been criminally charged.It was alleged that Martoma’s entire success across his four years at SAC Capital was based on illegal insider trading.

Days after beginning his employment at SAC Capital, Martoma began searching for doctors who would be willing to provide him access to confidential information about an Alzheimer’s disease drug trial conducted by Elan Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth Corporation.

Prosecutors had alleged that Martoma exploited his personal and financial relations with doctor Sidney Gilman who chaired the Safety Monitoring Committee (SMC) for the trial.

Martoma obtained inside information about the drug trial that Gilman learned at the SMC meetings and through other communications with drug companies Elan and Wyeth.

The judges said in the ruling Gilman, over the course of approximately 18 months and 43 paid consultation sessions for which he billed USD 1,000 an hour, regularly and intentionally provided Martoma with confidential information from the bapineuzumab clinical trial.

Abdul Hamid; Abdul Rehman, Shaikh, Shaikh, Mohd; Bhai, Bada; Bhai, Dawood; Bhai, Iqbal; Dilip, Aziz; Ebrahim, Dawood; Farooqi, Shaikh, Ismail; Abdul Aziz, Sheikh; Hassan, Dawood; Mohd, Ismail; Hasan, Kaskar, Dawood; Anis, Ibrahim, Kaskar, Daud, Hasan, Shaikh, Ibrahim; Ibrahim, Dowood, Hassan, Shaikh; Ibrahim, Anis; Kaskar, Daud, Ibrahim, Memon; Sabri, Dawood; Sahab, Haji; Kaskar, Dawood, Hasan, Ibrahim; Memon, Dawood, Ibrahim; and Seth, Bada.

The financial sanction list also included the names of terror outfits like the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Hizbul Mujahideen and Khalistan Zindabad Force. A number of affiliates of international terror outfits like AlQaida and the ISIS are also recorded on the list.

Financial sanctions can be applied on individuals, organisations, entities and governments who may be a resident in the UK or abroad.

Nepali woman attacked in New York, thrown on metro track New York A woman of Nepali origin was attacked at a local underground metro station in the East Village area in New York and thrown on to the rail track, but was saved when two people pulled her to safety before a train came along, according to media reports.

Kamala Shrestha, 49, received a head injury in the Tuesday night attack and was taken to a hospital, the New York Daily News reported.

Police described the attacker “as a black man in his 20s,” the newspaper said. He walked out of the subway station in the East Village area of the city and escaped.

“Oh my God, I got a new life today,” the newspaper quoted her as saying from the hospital.

“I feel good, actually. I almost died today.”

“I didn’t want to die. I yelled for someone,” she said and two men came to her rescue and pulled her out.

Her husband, Nam Lal Srestha, told WNBC TV that they want to find the two men who rescued her. “They saved my wife’s life,” he said.

‘Rare’ Byzantine mosaic revealed in Jerusalem’s Old City

JERUSALEM Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday unveiled a 1,500year-old portion of mosaic floor bearing the names of Byzantine Emperor Justinian and a senior Orthodox priest.

David Gellman, director of the excavation in east Jerusalem’s walled Old City, said that while the area was rich in archaeological finds, few such inscriptions had been found.

“Direct text and letters from people back then are relatively rare,” he told AFP. The Greek inscription, dated at 550 or 551 AD, commemorates the founding of a building thought to be a hostel for pilgrims near the city’s Damascus Gate.

Constantine, the Orthodox priest who founded it, was abbot of the Nea Church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the largest church in Jerusalem when it was built in 543 AD. Gellman said the rectangular section of mosaic, 1.14 metres (3 foot 7 inches) on its longest side, “tells us about the way

churches and monasteries worked back then. It makes this piece very unique”.

“It tells us that the abbot, the head of the big church in Jerusalem, was not only the head of that specific church,” he said.It was discovered intact about a metre (three feet) below street level as Gellman and his team made a routine exploratory dig ahead of the arrival of workers to lay communications cables.

“We were very close to closing the excavation when I noticed that a few of the mosaic stones, which were otherwise plain white, were at a different angle and seemed to be a little darker,” he said.

“I cleaned up that small corner... and found that it was the bottom left corner of the inscription itself,” he added.“At that moment I realised that we have a very unique find here.”The Old City lies in east Jerusalem, seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

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US mother claims USD 758.7mn in record single jackpot win, immediately quits job New York A 53-year-old Massachusetts mother of two on Thursday came forward to claim the largest single jackpot win in US history -- $758.7 million -- and promptly quit her job of 32 years at a hospital. Mavis Wanczyk said she played the lottery as a “pipe

dream,” never believing that it would one day be possible for her to retire early from the Mercy Medical Center, where she has worked for decades.On Thursday that dream came true.“I’ve called up and told them I will not be coming back,” she said to laughter at a news conference hosted by the Massachusetts State Lottery. “I’m going to go hide in my bed!” she added when asked how she planned to celebrate, wearing black-framed spectacles, a zip-up hooded black sweater over a grey lace

top, necklace and shoulderlength thick auburn hair.

Wanczyk selected the winning numbers -- including a blend of family birthdays -- and bought the ticket from a convenience store in Chicopee, a small town 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Boston, calling it “a chance I had

to take.” “I was there just to buy it for luck,” she explained, chewing gum and grinning.

Accompanied to the news conference by her mother and two sisters, she was still dazed after her monumental win.

Powerball called Wednesday’s draw “the highest jackpot won on a single ticket and the biggest lottery prize ever awarded to one single person.” She now has the choice of taking the jackpot as an annuity spread over 30 years or a one-off cash lump sum of $480.5 million, depending on

Ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra Flees Thailand Ahead of Verdict

state taxes.“First thing, I just want to sit back and relax,” Wanczyk said.

‘I’m scared but I’ll be ok’ She said she found out she had won from a colleague when they were leaving work overnight and promptly went into shock. “I couldn’t drive anywhere, I couldn’t do anything,” she said.

“So he followed me actually to make sure I was safely home.”

“Now it’s like, ‘I am a winner,’ and I’m scared, but I’ll be ok.”

Wanczyk, who has a 31-year-old daughter and 26-year-old son, said she previously been “OK” financially and had yet to work out how to spend her millions, other than paying off the car she bought last year.She said she now wanted to be alone to “figure out what I want to do.” While she could have remained anonymous, she said she came forward so quickly because she wanted to “get it over,” hoping that everybody would leave her alone. The $758.7 million jackpot is Powerball’s highest since a January 2016 world record of $1.6 billion, which was split between three ticket holders from California, Florida and Tennessee. Each took home $528.8 million.A mad rush for tickets had propelled the bonanza up from an originally announced $650 million as lines formed out of shopping malls and grocery stores.The winning numbers from Wednesday night’s draw were 6, 7, 16, 23 and 26, from five white balls, and 4 as the so-called Powerball number on a red ball. Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The draw takes place every Wednesday and Saturday nights.

Aussie deputy PM a frontrunner for ‘Kiwi of the Year’

WELLINGTON Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was named as a frontrunner in the New Zealander of the Year awards Friday, amid a constitutional crisis in Canberra over his unwanted Kiwi citizenship.Organisers said Joyce received the second-most nominations for the award after a public appeal for candidates.

“It’s absolutely for real,” awards manager Glyn Taylor told AFP. “Though I’m not sure how serious the nomination was.” The only person who outpolled Joyce was Metiria Turei, a politician who resigned as co-leader of the New Zealand Greens this month after admitting to welfare fraud. “It’s also not unusual for people of the moment to attract significant support during the public nominations period,” Taylor added.The awards were established in 2010 to recognise people who have “contributed to making New Zealand a better place to live”. Past winners include All Blacks legend Richie McCaw and Hollywood director

Taika Waititi.Australian-born Joyce discovered earlier this month that he unwittingly inherited New Zealand citizenship from his Kiwi father, putting him in breach of a constitutional clause banning dual citizens from sitting in parliament.Joyce has refused to stand down and has taken his case to the High Court, determined to preserve his government’s one-seat majority in the lower house.Six senators, including two from Joyce’s National Party, are in the same predicament, and the court will hear their cases in midOctober.Taylor said the New Zealander of the Year nominees would not be vetted until late September and it was likely Joyce’s name would be removed from the list of candidates then.

To win, nominees must either be New Zealand citizens or have lived in the country for five years.

Australia’s deputy leader meets neither criteria, as he told parliament on August 15 that he had formally renounced his New Zealand citizenship.

Fukushima operator faces $5 bn US suit over 2011 disaster Thailand Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra fled the country ahead of a court verdict over a rice subsidy scheme.

Sources in her party say that she made the decision to leave unexpectedly, hours before she had to appear before the court.

Some officials said that Shinawatra travelled by land to Cambodia and then flew to Dubai to join her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier whose government, like hers, was toppled in a military coup.

The official gave no other details and declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. Yingluck is accused of negligence in a money-losing rice subsidy program, a charge she has always denied as politically motivated.A verdict was expected on Friday, August 25.

Thousands of Yingluck supporters had gathered outside the court and thousands of police stood guard but she never

appeared. Reading out a statement, a judge said that her lawyers had informed the court she could not attend because of an earache. the court, however, did not believe the information as no medical report was provided to the court. He said a warrant would be issued for her arrest and postponed the trial until September 27, reported.

“I was told this morning that she was ill, that she had vertigo, that she felt dizzy, so I requested the postponement … that’s all I have to say,” Norrawit Larlaeng, Yingluck’s lawyer, said.

“If she’s not guilty she should stay and fight the case,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said. “If she’s not here, what does that tell you? Will she still say that she didn’t get justice?” he asked.

Yingluck also posted a message on her Facebook page urging followers to stay away. She also said that she is worried about their safety.

Tokyo Tokyo Electric Power Co Holdings said Thursday it faces another US lawsuit over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, with the latest one demanding at least $5 billion in compensation.

A total of 157 US residents who were supporting Fukushima victims at the time filed the class action suit in a California district court earlier this month against the utility known as Tepco and a US company.

A massive tsunami triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake smashed into Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant on Japan’s northeast coast on March 11, 2011.

The giant waves overwhelmed reactor cooling systems and sent three into meltdown, spewing radiation over a wide area in the world’s most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

The plaintiffs, who joined aid

efforts along with US troops shortly after the disaster, claim they were exposed to radiation because of the improper design, construction and maintenance of the plant.

They are seeking $5 billion to cover the cost of medical tests and treatment needed to recover from the disaster, Tepco said in a statement.

They are also demanding compensation for physical,

mental and economic damage but no further details such as a sum of money or the identities of the claimants were available.

It was the second multi-plaintiff suit filed against the utility in a US court following one by more than 200 individuals in 2013.

In Japan, more than 10,000 people who fled their homes over radiation fears have filed various group lawsuits against the government and the firm.

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Pak court allows Muslim man, ‘Hindu’ wife to live together

Islamabad A 21-year-old Hindu woman who converted to Islam has been allowed by a Pakistani court to live with her Muslim husband after she insisted that she embraced the new faith willingly and refused to go with her parents.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court after hearing the case on Friday also asked the police to provide security to the couple.

The family of Maria, whose Hindu name was Anooshi, had claimed that she had allegedly been kidnapped before being forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man, The Express Tribune reported.

However, Maria recited Arabic prayers in the court to prove her wilful conversion to Islam, reiterating that no one pressured her to change her religion, the report said.

Maria along with her husband Bilawal Ali Bhutto had sought protection from the high court owing to threats for marrying out of their free-will.

When the court asked Maria to meet with her parents, she refused. But on the direction of the court, she met them at the office of personal secretary of the judge for around 40 minutes.

Maria’s mother submitted to the court that her daughter be handed over to them so that they

may be able to persuade her. She also expressed fears that Bhutto may abandon Maria after some time.

“In my view,” Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui said, “custody of petitioner Maria cannot be handed over to her parents, with an objection that she may be compelled for conversion from Islam to Hinduism.”

In case they succeed in their efforts, Justice Siddiqui noted, it will further endanger the life of the young lady.

Pakistan Muslim League’s (N) member and patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, said that “this tendency is merely an effort to enter into the marriage contract” which needs the attention of the court as the trend was disrupting the very fibre of the society.

He added that the concept of “Karo-Kari” (killing the couple for dishonour to family) is alien in the Hindu community and that Maria’s apprehension of being killed were baseless.

When the court asked if he was ready to take custody of both the petitioners, he replied that only Maria’s custody be handed over to him for counselling.

Justice Siddiqui concluded in the order that the petitioners may live together while in Islamabad and that local police shall ensure their security.

Dwarf dolphin, a case study in evolution PARIS Scientists on Wednesday unveiled an extinct species of toothless, whiskered and objectively cute mini-dolphin that plied Earth’s oceans some 30m years ago.With only a fossilised cranium - found in a river near Charleston, South Carolina - to work with, the researchers were able to reconstruct the snubnosed mammal’s evolutionary saga, describe its facial features and figure out what it snacked on. Just over a metre (three feet) from snout to tail, Inermorostrum xenops was half the size of the common bottlenose dolphin.

Ironically, the pint-size Flipper was an early offshoot from one of the two main groupings of cetaceans called Odontoceti, or “toothed whale”, that includes sperm whales and orca. This group also developed a radar-like capacity to navigate and detect objects by emitting sounds, called echolocation.

The other branch, baleen whales, are filter feeders that strain huge volumes of ocean water to net tiny, shrimp-like krill or plankton - think humpback or the gargantuan blue.

“Inermorostrum took only four million years to evolve from ancestral whales with precisely occluding teeth” - matching top and bottom - “into a toothless, suction feeding specialist,” explained Robert Boessenecker, a professor at the College of Charleston and lead author of a study in the British Royal Society journal Proceedings B. During those four million years a brief interlude on the evolutionary clock - I. xenops lost its pearly whites, saw its snout and mouth shrink and developed super muscular lips.

“This last feature is perhaps the most critical,” said Boessenecker, who deduced the dolphin’s powerful smackers from a series of deep artery channels clearly designed to nourish extensive soft tissue.

“Short snouts typically occur in

Pakistan court acquits former president Zardari in corruption case Rawalpindi A Pakistani court on Saturday acquitted former president Asif Ali Zardari in a major corruption case that dogged him for almost two decades, his lawyer said.Zardari, who left office in 2013, faced corruption allegations involving Swiss banks dating back to the 1990s. He was accused along with his late wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, of laundering $12 million of illegal kickbacks.“An accountability court today acquitted Asif Zardari in a case filed against him in 1998 accusing him of making and maintaining assets beyond his known sources of income,” lawyer Farooq H. Naik told AFP.He said the court, which has held hearings in Lahore and Rawalpindi since 1998, recorded statements from more than 40 witnesses.

“It has now become abundantly clear that the allegations against my client were fake and there were no solid grouds for filing a baseless case against him 19 years ago,” Naik said.Zardari has spent time behind bars on charges

ranging from corruption to murder.Little-known at the time of his arranged marriage into the Bhutto dynasty in 1987, he carved out a powerful position for himself, serving as a government minister in his wife’s two administrations.

Odontoceti that are adept at suction feeding - the smaller the oral opening, the greater the suction,” he said in a statement.

Absent dentition, I. xenops’ diet

echolocating cetaceans developed long, toothy snouts specialised in catching fish.

The researchers also found that both short and long snouts

would have consisted exclusively of small fish, squid and other soft-bodied creatures. Because its nose was bent downward, the researchers suspect it prowled the ocean floor in search of prey.

The dwarf dolphins were not the only “toothed whales” undergoing rapid evolution at that time.

During the Oligocene age, 25 to 35 million years ago, other

evolved independently numerous times, suggesting that natural selection is not an arbitrary process.

Some dolphins, such as the modern bottlenose, settled on a happy medium between the extremes, “the optimum length as it permits both fish catching and suction feeding,” Boessenecker added.

At ancient pyramid in Peru, remains of 20th century Chinese labourers found

Lima Archaeologists exploring Peru’s pre-Colombian past recently unearthed a glimpse of a less prominent chapter in the Andean country’s history - the remains of 16 Chinese labourers from around the turn of the last century.

The bodies, thought to be those of indentured workers brought to Peru to replace slave labour, were found buried at the top of an adobe pyramid first used by the ancient Ichma people, Roxana Gomez, the lead archaeologist of the site, said on Thursday.

Peru was one of the biggest destinations for Chinese labour in Latin America in the 20th century, a market that thrived after slavery was abolished in the country in 1854.

The Chinese found at the Bellavista pyramid in Lima were buried in the late 1800s and early 1900s and had likely picked cotton at a nearby plantation in “very difficult” conditions, said Gomez.In a possible sign of how the Chinese gradually emerged from dire poverty in Peru, the first 11 bodies were shrouded in cloth and placed in the ground, while the last five wore blue-green jackets and were buried in wooden coffins, Gomez said.

“In one Chinese coffin, an opium

pipe and a small ceramic vessel were included in the funerary ensemble,” said Gomez.

Chinese laborers in the 20th century were generally not allowed to be buried at Lima’s Catholic cemeteries, forcing them to improvise burial sites, according to Peru’s Culture Ministry.

The remains of Chinese laborers were previously found in Lima at other adobe pyramids known as “huacas.” Built by the indigenous societies that once ruled much of Peru’s Pacific coast, huacas were used as administrative and religious centers where members of the elite were often buried with gold objects, ceramics or human sacrifices.

Gomez said the huacas had a sacred association that might have made them attractive places for burial by Chinese labourers.

The Bellavista huaca was occupied by Ichma starting in about 1000 A.D. and was later annexed by the Incan empire until the arrival of Spanish conquerors who deemed huacas blasphemous.

Italian immigrants later kept vineyards at the base of the site, Gomez added.

“The best way to understand our history is as a continuum of different cultures,” said Gomez.

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Transgender from Singapore, friend jailed Indians Among Eight Killed in Road Accident in UK in UAE for dressing in ‘feminine’ way Dubai A transgender Singaporean and her friend have been sentenced to a year in prison in the capital of the United Arab Emirates for dressing in a feminine way, friends and family say.

Abu Dhabi police did not immediately respond to a

request for comment, but the two’s arrest and quick sentencing shows the danger that the LGBT community can face in the Mideast nation, home to the famous nightclub scene of Dubai.

Nur Qistina Fitriah Ibrahim, a transgender woman who has not undergone a sex-change operation, and her friend, freelance fashion photographer Muhammad Fadli Bin Abdul Rahman, were arrested in Abu Dhabi on August 9, their friends said.

Police stopped them at Yas Mall as they were trying to eat at a food court, said Radha Stirling, CEO of the advocacy group Detained in Dubai.

Fadli at the time of his arrest was wearing a white T- shirt, a bow tie and earrings, his brother Muhammad Saiful Bahri Bin Abdul Rahman said.

“I hope to bring my brother back to Singapore as soon as possible,” he said. “My brother is a friendly, selfless and jovial

person. It’s ridiculous to be jailed for his dressing.”

Ibrahim, who is known by the nickname Fifi to friends, is a frequent traveller to Abu Dhabi and had not had any trouble in the past, friends said.

The two believed they will sort out the issue and return home quickly, but were sentenced to a year in prison in a court hearing, Stirling said. She alleged the two did not retain lawyers at the advice of the Singapore Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Chan Zhi Wei, an official at the Singaporean Embassy, called the allegation that consular officials advised against getting a lawyer “incorrect,” without

elaborating. “The embassy is currently rendering the necessary consular assistance to the individuals in question and their families are being assisted to seek legal advice,” he said.

Abu Dhabi advertises itself as a tourism destination and is home to the long-haul air carrier Etihad Airways. However, the emirate bordering Saudi Arabia is more conservative than Dubai, the UAE’s commercial heart.

But even trips to Dubai can pose risks to LGBT travellers and others as laws sometimes contradict social attitudes, Stirling said. A British man in the UAE faced charges of “cross dressing” last year, but Stirling said she helped him leave the country after paying a fine of 5,000 dirhams ($1,360).

Meanwhile, alcohol possession for foreigners is technically illegal without a government-issued license obtainable only after gaining their employer’s permission, though liquor and beer is widely available in bars and clubs in both cities.

Foreigners also have faced charges in the past for having sex outside of marriage.

Such laws are common in other Mideast nations, based in part on Islamic legal codes.

“Alcohol, prostitutes, homosexuality, sex outside marriage and revealing clothing are all ever present, making these practices seem legal or at least, common and acceptable,” Stirling said. “In reality, they are serious offenses that can lead to lengthy imprisonment, fines and deportation.”

China installs high-definition cameras along the Great Wall to curb vandalism Washington China has installed over 300 highdefinition cameras along the iconic Great Wall after growing incidents of vandalism, including by foreigners, who scratch their names or messages onto the masonry of one of the world’s seven wonders.

The move is part of a two-pronged approach to tackle the problem which also involves teams patrolling the historic landmark to catch or warn off perpetrators, state-run China Radio International reported.

It follows recent publicity after Chinese characters, along with English and Korean words were found on parts of the Great Wall’s popular Badaling section, causing a public outcry, it said.

However, the practice is nothing new. NBA player, Bobby Brown, aroused public anger after scribbling his name and number on the Great Wall in October 2016, the report said.

An expert on the Great Wall, Dong Yaohui, says many of the scratches were left by tourists in the 1980s to 1990s when people were less aware of the

importance of ancient monument protection, and preventative measures were far from effective.

The newly installed cameras will provide real-time monitoring and provide a record of events as evidence.

If anyone is found to be vandalising the wall, they will be banned from visiting again, reported to the police and fined, the report said.

Special teams will also patrol daily, with more frequent patrols during peak times.

Special signs have been put up warning visitors against climbing on the wall or vandalising the brickwork.

The Great Wall, a symbol of China, is actually not just one wall, but many interconnected walls built between the third century B.C. and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The existing sections are mainly the Ming wall, which stretches over 8,800 kms, inspiring wonder amongst its millions of visitors each year.

“It is a marvellous sight. I wonder how this massive structure was built in the olden times,” said

Sunil Kumar, an Indian visitor to the Wall, considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

It was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.

With a total length of more than 21,000 kms (the entire wall with all of its branches), China’s Great Wall runs through 404 counties in 15 provincial regions, with much of it in poor condition due to natural erosion and man-made damage.

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials. It was mainly constructed to thwart foreign invasions.

Last year, the Chinese government allocated 700 million yuan (over $100 million) to protect the Great Wall over the past two years, according to a top cultural heritage official.

Liu Yuzhu, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), said that this year his department aims to set up model zones for protection, launch training programmes for protectors and volunteers and

London Indians are among eight persons killed in a road accident in southern England after their mini bus got crushed between two trucks, officials said.

Some of those on board the minibus were on holiday from India and visiting their families in the UK. “We are extending all possible assistance to those affected by this tragedy,” the Indian High Commission in London said yesterday.

British police are yet to release details of those killed in the crash.

The driver of the minibus has been locally identified as Indiaborn Cyriac Joseph.

A five-year-old girl, a woman and a man are being treated in a hospital with life-threatening injuries, while another woman has serious injuries.

The two truck drivers have been arrested, one of them on suspicion of driving while over the alcohol limit.

Both men are being questioned

on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and are in police custody.

The crash occurred on the southbound M1 highway at Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire yesterday.

South Central Ambulance Service said those injured in the collision were taken to hospitals in Milton Keynes, Coventry and Birmingham.

Pictures from the crash site show extensive damage to the vehicles involved, including a FedEx vehicle and one belonging to AIM Logistics.

“We would like to express our deepest sympathy to the families who have lost loved ones and also those whom have been injured at this very sad time,” said Ismail Elmagdoub, director of AIM Logistics, based in Evesham, Worcestershire.

“Road safety and compliance is of the utmost importance to AIM Logistics and we are continuing to assist the police as much as possible with their inquiries,” he said.

A 153kg samosa just broke world records in London

London The world record for the largest samosa was smashed in London on Tuesday (Aug 22) by a whopping version of the popular Asian snack weighing in at 153.1kg.A dozen volunteers from the Muslim Aid UK charity built the giant samosa then deep-fried it in a custom-built vat at an East London Mosque.Adjudicators from Guinness World Records were on hand to oversee the process and certify that the mega-samosa passed the required tests.The previous record of 110.8kg was set by Bradford College in northern England in June 2012.The samosa was built on a giant wire mesh, then winched into a vat of cooking oil before being hauled out to be weighed.

“My heart was beating really fast,”

said Farid Islam, 26, the project organiser.“It was very tense. It looked like it was going to slide off. A crack appeared and I feared the worst,” he told AFP. Guinness World Records adjudicator Pravin Patel spelled out the rules.

“It’s got to be triangular; contain flour, potatoes, onions and peas; be fried, and retain the shape when cooked,” he told AFP. “It’s got to look and feel like a samosa; it’s got to be edible by humans.

“The critical record is the net weight. Plus it all has to be eaten. No wastage!”

After the team carefully made the triangle-shaped super-snack, it was hauled up to the industrial winch by the biggest men available and slowly plunged into the vat.

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Why new UK visa figures are a big deal for Theresa May and Indians London Indians have long been at the heart of the sensitive discourse of immigration in Britain – from Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘rivers of blood speech’, to plans to impose ‘visa bonds’, to the ‘Go Home’ vans driven around parts of London. For most of the time, they have been seen in a negative light. For the first time, official figures released on Thursday paint a rather different picture of visiting Indians in recent years: the vast majority of them (97%) – including students – return before their visas expire, busting some myths.The figures not only brought cheer in Indian quarters, but also put Prime Minister Theresa May in the dock, who, as Home secretary since 2010 and now as prime minister, used the ‘overstayers’ card to make it tough for Indian and other nonEU students to come to Britain, leading to a major drop.

The good news for Indian visitors and students, however, needs to be tempered with the fact that some Indian citizens continue to be caught abusing the visa system, working illegally or entering into sham marriages or

indulging in other abuse.

The over 50% drop in Indian student numbers since 2010 is also attributed to the closure of 920 bogus colleges who were earlier admitting large numbers for purposes other than studies, though many genuine students avoiding Britain due to the negative perception abroad may also have contributed to the fall in numbers.

The Indian component in UK immigration also includes many illegal immigrants, who entered over the decades and whose return is at the top of May’s agenda. As she said during her 2016 visit to India, “the UK will consider further improvements to our visa offer if at the same time we can step up the speed and volume of returns of Indians with no right to remain in the UK”.

The new figures have already enthused sections of the Indian community to demand improvement of the visa offer, but this is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Nor is it likely that the May government brings back the post-study work visa that was popular among Indian students (it was closed in 2012).

For now, the hope is that the

figures will mute some of the negative voices about India and Indians in the discourse of immigration, while the government faces more pressure

Cameron coalition government (2010-2015), called on May to apologise for the crackdown on foreign students: “We spent five years trying to persuade the

to stop considering non-EU students as migrants (a view also shared by some of May’s cabinet colleagues).

May’s critics rounded on her after figures from the Office for National Statistics and Home Office showed that 97% of international students return after completing their studies, which amounted to a statistical U-turn when earlier estimates had put overstayers at 100,000 a year.

Vince Cable, who was May’s cabinet colleague in the David

Home Office that the figures they were using as evidence were bogus, but they persisted nonetheless on the basis of these phoney numbers”.

“The consequences were very serious. I would hope they would not just apologise to the individual students, many of whom have paid large fees and even found themselves deported in some cases, but simply acknowledge that the figures are grossly distorted and wrong.”

Home secretary Amber Rudd, who has been following the May doctrine and promised new curbs on non-EU students and professionals in her 2016 Conservative party conference speech, has tasked the Migration Advisory Committee to report on the impact of international students. Its report

by September 2018 is expected to present May the fig-leaf to change policy.

The latest figures are based on an advanced system of checks introduced in recent years. But even when earlier estimates of overstayers were based on uncertain data, May used them

UK police hold Sikh man and his son at gunpoint after misunderstanding

to target international students in her drive to cut overall immigration: “Students, yes; overstayers, no”, was her mantra.

Shadow Home secretary Diane Abbott believes that May’s “longrunning campaign to malign international students is based on fantasy, with no evidence of a major issue with students overstaying”.

“Some in government appear to be waking up to the idea that overseas students make a valuable contribution to our country and have belatedly asked the Migration Advisory Committee to gather evidence”.

UK universities and other stakeholders have lobbied intensely to remove international students from overall migration figures, but May has consistently refused to do so. Some studies estimate that the high fee-paying non-EU students generate more than £25 billion for the British economy every year and support over 200,000 jobs.

James McGrory of the pro-EU group Open Britain said: “The Prime Minister has spent years, in Downing Street and in the Home Office, railing against foreign students overstaying their visas, which was used this to justify crackdowns on foreign students, despite their importance to our economy”.

“But now it emerges that the number of overstayers is just a fraction of the numbers the Government previously thought.

They have been using a sledgehammer to crack a nut”.

As Britain prepares to leave the EU, the new figures provide the May government the opportunity to partly deliver on its claim of forging a more open country after Brexit, if only for Indian and other international students for now.

J& J ordered to pay $417m in cancer lawsuit London A 47-year-old Sikh man and his son were held at gunpoint and handcuffed by the UK police in southern England after someone complained about hearing a gunshot - which was actually his car’s tyre blowing.Sukhi Rayat parked his car in his yard in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Shortly after a dozen armed policemen with dogs ran into his garden, then pushed him against a wall and put him in handcuffs.“I’d been sitting in my car for a minute because I was calling the company I lease it from. As soon as I stepped out, police came out of nowhere with the dogs and rifles and everything,” Rayat was quoted as saying by the online newspaper Metro.

Rayat said that his 17-year-old son Harkeert was also rammed

up against a wall and handcuffed.“I unlocked the door and the officer pointed his gun at me and told me to put my hands up. Then he grabbed me and threw me against the wall.

They had me out there on the main road, being searched in handcuffs,” said Rayat, who has lived in his home since 1979.

The raid on Wednesday happened after someone called police to report a gunshot coming from Rayat’s car, however, the complainant’s allegations changed three times.Rayat’s daughter Manmeet Kaur, 20, slammed police officers who ignored their request to take off their shoes before entering a special upstairs room filled with Sikh religious items and texts.

“It was scary, but now I feel more anger than anything else,” she

said. A Hertfordshire Police spokeswoman said that officers have a duty to act on information received and any reports involving firearms are taken very seriously.

She said police responded to a call from a member of the public who stated they had seen two men inside a car in Bunyan Road holding what they believed to be a firearm.“Armed officers detained a man and entered a property before carrying out a search to ensure there were no people inside the address with a firearm,” the spokeswoman said.

“We apologise for any offence caused by the search. However, our main priority is to protect both the safety of the public and the safety of our officers, and detain any person or persons who are illegally in possession of a firearm,” she added.

LOS ANGELES A California jury ordered drugmaker Johnson & Johnson

to pay 417 million dollars to a woman who claimed she developed terminal ovarian cancer after using the company’s talc-based products.

The case was one of thousands of lawsuits brought nationwide alleging the company failed to warn consumers of the risk of

cancer from talc in its products.

The jury made the award, which included 347 million dollars in punitive damages, to Eva Echeverria after she filed suit in July of last year, a representative of the Los Angeles Superior Court told AFP. Echeverria, 63, developed the disease after decades of using Johnson & Johnson talcbased powders for feminine hygiene, according to media accounts. In a statement, Johnson & Johnson said it would lodge an appeal. “We will appeal today’s verdict because we are guided by the science, which supports the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder,” company spokesperson Carol Goodrich said in a statement.

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‘Where is my name?’ Afghan women seek identity through social media campaign Kabul A social media campaign demanding that Afghan men refer to their wives by their own name in public is gaining traction in the deeply patriarchal country.

It is common in Afghanistan for women to be known only as the “wife of” or “daughter of”

someone. Often their names are omitted from wedding invites and even gravestones.

But an online campaign called #WhereIsMyName, started recently by a group of young Afghan women, is challenging the centuries-old tradition and seeking to spread awareness about the right to identity.

“I joined because I really want to see change. I’m tired of the fact that in the 21st century we are living in a medieval century,” 26year-old Tahmina Arian told AFP. The movement started in Afghanistan’s western city of Herat in early July when a handful of women posted comments and photos on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #WhereIsMyName.

Hundreds of others across the

country soon followed, including men who wrote the names of their wives. Afghan celebrities have also backed the campaign which is receiving significant airtime on local news channels.

Last week the movement held its first public event in the capital Kabul. It was attended by

dozens of women. A government minister and several scholars made speeches.

“We have got together to break a taboo. We want our women to know about their basic right to be called by their own name, to have their own identity,” said Arian, who helped organise the gathering.

- ‘Not a human being’ Sabira Madady, a 20-year-old student, once had to repeatedly ask a teacher to call her by her name in class. Even then he would only use her family name so as not to “identify her to boys”, she said.

“When someone calls me by another name I feel so bad, like I am not a human being. Society sees me as belonging to someone else,” Madady told

Manchester attack victim’s sister scores 11 ‘A*’ grades in test she took day after brother’s death

AFP. In some rural areas, where there is little education, men are known to even use a single term, roughly translated as “blackheaded”, to refer to women.

For rights activists the name issue is evidence of women’s status as second class citizens -- the property of men in a misogynistic society.

“If a woman knows her name then she has an idea about herself and what she wants. But if she only knows herself through the eyes of her husband or brother then everything is planned for her,” said Arian.

The custom is rooted in Afghan tribal culture, according to sociologists. A man can lose honour if his wife is known by her name, they say.

“The tradition has been going on for centuries. Our society is ultraconservative and Afghan men can feel shame if they call a woman by her name,” Mohammad Amir Kamawal, a professor of social sciences at Kabul University, told AFP, refusing to blame religion.

“Nowhere does the Koran mention that women should not be called by their names.

Conservative mullahs have misinterpreted some verses,” he added.

- Prostitutes and Westerners The campaign received a boost when hugely popular Afghan singer Farhad Darya posted a photo of himself and his wife online alongside both their names.

But there has also been plenty of negative feedback.

“It’s better to say, ‘Where is my hijab rather than where is my name? May God never make women shameless,” wrote one social media user.

Another accused the campaign of “misleading Afghan women” and trying to turn them into Westerners.

Arian said the activists had even been called “prostitutes”. She admits they have taken a risk in speaking out but remain

China questions India’s move to build new road in Ladakh

Beijing China on Thursday questioned India’s move to build a new road near Pangong lake in Ladakh sector, saying it had “slapped its own face” by allowing such a project along the border that is yet to be demarcated.

The foreign ministry said the new road project sanctioned by India near Pangong lake, where border troops of the two countries clashed last week, was not conducive to maintaining “peace and tranquillity” along the border.

Reacting to a report on the project in Hindustan Times earlier this week, the foreign ministry contended the move revealed a contradiction in India’s stand on construction of structures along the border.

The Hindustan Times report had said the of home ministry has “approved the construction of a standalone road project from Marsimik La to Hot Spring”.

Marsimik La in Ladakh is about 20 km from the northwestern tip of Pangong lake. The Border Road Organisation (BRO) has taken over the project after it was cleared by the home ministry.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reacted strongly when Chinese state media cited the report and sought a reaction at the regular news briefing on Thursday.“It seems according to reports the Indian side is slapping its own face. The Indian side is closely following China’s roadbuilding recently but India’s actions themselves have proven that the Indian side says something and does another,”

Hua said.“Its (India’s) words are in complete contradiction to its deeds in terms of border issues,” she added. “The western section of the India-China boundary has not been delimited. The two sides have agreed to uphold border areas’ peace and tranquillity before disputes are settled. The current road construction by the Indian side is not conducive to peace and stability in that area and will not help with settlement of the current situation.”

Hua was referring to the intervention in June by Indian troops to block the construction of a road by Chinese troops in Donglang or Doklam near the Sikkim border. New Delhi said the road would alter the status quo and have serious security implications.

China has repeatedly blamed India for “trespass” in the Doklam area and for triggering the twomonth military standoff. Dokalm is under China’s control but claimed by Bhutan.

Beijing has also blamed New Delhi for the skirmish near Pangong lake on August 15, saying Indian troops triggered the scuffle in which Chinese soldiers were injured.The foreign ministry had said on Monday that China has lodged “serious concerns” over the incident which occurred along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). “According to our information, on August 15, the Chinese border troops conducted normal patrol on the Chinese side of the LAC around Pangong area,” Hua said on Monday.

Bangladesh university drops dress code after backlash Manchester The sister of a man killed in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack has scored eleven ‘A*’ grades in her General Certificate of Secondary Education, inviting praise from people on social media platforms.

Twenty-nine-year-old Martyn Hett was among the 22 people killed in the terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22. Martyn’s brother, Dan Hett, tweeted on Thursday about how his sister, Nikita, took the test the day after learning about her brother’s death.

“my little sister Nik is an actual hero... we were obviously completely numb, fried, drained. we’d been through something absolutely unreal and were all trying to figure it out. I came downstairs, and Nik was sat on the stairs in full school uniform, tying her shoes. I couldn’t understand why. I didn’t even know what day it was at that point, it had been such a horrific few days. She was putting her shoes on so she could go and sit a bunch of GCSE’s. I was utterly amazed, floored,” Dan tweeted on Thursday.

Dhaka A women’s dormitory at Bangladesh’s most prestigious university said on Thursday it has dropped a ban on students wearing what it called “indecent” clothing after an uproar.

A notice posted at Dhaka University’s Kabi Sufiya Kamal Hall barred its 2,300 residents from wearing such clothes including t-shirts, threatening disciplinary action against anyone who disobeyed.

A photo of the order went viral on social media, with many accusing authorities of “Talibanising” the dormitory.

“Do we have to change our clothing every time we go to the dining room for lunch or dinner?”

said one student at the dormitory, who asked not to be named. “I am not sure whether I should study or keep changing clothes three times a day.”Dhaka University is Muslim-majority Bangladesh’s largest secular bastion. The head of the dormitory said she had not

issued the order, which did not reflect its policies.“We are very embarrassed seeing the distorted notice,” Sabita Rezwana Rahman told AFP.She said a new notice had been put up saying only that students should wear appropriate dress to enter the dormitory office.

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Improved speed, accuracy and consistency make her a dangerous player now BETWEEN Rio Olympics and Glasgow World Championships, PV Sindhu’s graph has only shown an upward trend. She may have lost the breathtaking final to Nozomi Okuhara by a barely perceptible margin, but the way the Indian has captured her third medal at the Worlds, it is a testament to her belief and confidence on the big stages.

Improved speed, accuracy and high level of consistency make her a dangerous opponent now, the former players point out. From an attacking player, Sindhu has now developed into an ‘effective allrounder’ who can quickly adapt to the different styles of play. Times are exciting for women’s badminton. It has thrown up exceptional talents with varied skills, the new generation of girls are playing at such high level

which was not witnessed before in world badminton. For Sindhu to stand tall among them and remain competitive, it has become imperative she reinvents her game. After the medal at the Rio Olympics, Sindhu won the China Open and India Open Super Series titles, before slipping into a period of lull. “When a player breaks into a big league which Sindhu did with her Olympic medal, it takes some time to stabilise. Sindhu is expected to do well wherever she plays. She is now coming onto her own with experience, playing repeatedly against the best players and learning from her losses,” observed former Asian Champion Dinesh Khanna. “Sindhu used be an attacking player but now she has moulded herself to an effective all-rounder. She showed that

streak in Rio where she showed good defensive skills and has only added to that. She is comfortable against any opponent and against any type of game. She is equally good in defence and long rallies,” he added. Former international Arvind Bhat feels that Sindhu’s speed and accuracy are the new hallmarks of her game. “To play at such high speed and with such accuracy and consistency is amazing. This is something that stood out in her game. Also the Rio Olympics bronze has added to her confidence that she can execute her gameplans more confidently in big matches. She is mentally stronger,” Arvind told this paper. He, however, felt that Sindhu needs to work on her strength as she has been running out of breath in longer rallies. “She is a tall girl and opponents will

try to run her around by engaging in rallies. It is difficult for tall players to bend so much and Sindhu was wobbly during rallies (in the final), gasping for breath.

She will have to do high quality strength building training to improve this aspect of her game.

She is only 22 and has a long way to go.” Both agreed it was one of the best women’s singles final to have taken place. “Hats off to the staying power, stamina, and fitness of the two girls. It was incredible. The intensity of match was so high throughout. It never dipped. It was as much about skills and tactics. Even towards the end when they were so exhausted, the quality of game never went down. There were winners and no unforced errors. I have never seen a better match,” says Khanna.

Constant evolution behind Bumrah’s success INDIA PACER Jasprit Bumrah says the zeal to learn something new with each game has helped him survive in international cricket. Bumrah, who took a career-best five for 27 in the third ODI on Sunday, further said that he has learnt a lot from Sri Lankan ace Lasith Malinga while spending time at Mumbai Indians. “As a bowler you have to constantly have to learn new things and thats been

my main aim all the time. This is my first visit to Sri Lanka and I have never played here so it is always a challenge to play in different conditions,” said Bumrah after India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to seal the fivematch series 3-0. “I look to do that (keep learning) and keep asking questions to seniors as to what experience they have gained for so many years. This basic change has come in me

(as a bowler) because I always learn nowadays. As a youngster you dont know what place you have to go and perform,” he said.

Being in regular touch with someone like a Malinga has also contributed to his growth as a fast bowler. “He has been there with Mumbai Indians when I was a 19year-old in 2013. I was a kid who didnt play first-class cricket so talking to him and learning from him has been always valuable.”

“He has been there for 3-4 years so I have learnt a lot from him. I think every bit of knowledge that you get is very important.” The young pacer has had varied roles in the Indian team, starting out as firstchange bowler, to becoming a death-overs specialist, to now sharing the new ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar consistently. Bumrah is fine with bowling at any time of the match.

“I am happy as far as I am able

to contribute to the teams success. If the team wants me to bowl first-change, I am happy to do that. If they want me to bowl with the new ball, I am happy to do that.” “I have bowled with the new ball before when I came into the Indian team in the T20 formats. I shared the new ball with Ashish (Nehra) bhai. I think after a period of time you understand what to do with the new ball.”

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

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Kim blasts 3 more missiles into Japan sea

Iran bans ‘ugly-looking’ teachers from classrooms IRAN’S education department has banned ugly teachers from the classroom, including women

do our best to respond to any situations in order to protect our people’s lives and property.” The launch is the first by the North since it test-fired a missile

NORTH Korea has launched three short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Saturday in a further taunting of US President Donald Trump — but they were all duds. The US military said two of the missiles failed in flight and the other blew up ‘almost immediately’. They were launched between 6.19 am and 6.49 am local time in North Korea and landed to the east of North Korea’s Kangwon province. South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was analysing the missiles.

It said: “The military is keeping a tight surveillance over the North to cope with further provocations.” It comes as a US-South Korea joint military exercise is under way and as category 4 Hurricane Harvey moves towards Texas. South Koreans — living under constant threat of attack from their belligerent northern neighbours — had to wake up

to the launch at 6.49am local time. Two of the missiles landed off the east coast of South Korea’s Kangwon province after flying 155 miles in a northeasterly direction. A spokesman for US Pacific Command said none of the missiles, which it said were launched near Kittaeryong, had posed a threat to either North America or the US Pacific territory of Guam. “The first and third missiles... failed in flight.

The second missile launch... appears to have blown up almost immediately,” said the spokesman, Commander Dave Benham, adding that the launches happened over a span of 30 minutes. The news was immediately reported to President Moon Jaein. Japan’s NHK broadcast said the projectiles did not appear to be objects that could threaten Japan’s safety. Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese government’s top spokesman,

told reporters in Tokyo on Saturday morning: “We confirmed that no ballistic missiles have fallen onto our country’s territory or EEZ (exclusive economic zone).”

“We confirmed there was no direct impact on our country’s security. Our Prime Minister told us to remain on high alert and

on July 28 that could have been designed to reach 6,200 miles, putting parts of the US mainland within reach. The North tends to test-fire balistic missiles or other projectiles — including those from longrange multiple rocket launchers — in response to USSouth Korea joint military exercises.

with facial hair or those suffering from acne. A list of proscribed ailments, including having a scar or a fungal infection was released by the FARS news agency. Anyone who is crosseyed, has ugly facial moles or skin conditions such as acne or eczema faces redundancy.

Women who have facial hair will also be sacked, along with teachers with fewer than 20 teeth or those suffering a fungal infection. Women are allowed to teach in Iran although they must wear a scarf covering their hair.

Art teachers will be sacked if they report they are colourblind and infertile female teachers will also be banned from the classroom.

According to Kurdistan24 News, illnesses on the list include kidney stones, poor eyesight, and a history of bladder surgery.

For women, they include “period disorders, too much facial hair, infertility, or breast cancer”.

“Smokers, people who enjoy smoking a hookah, drug users, and alcoholics are also blacklisted,” as are “people suffering from sexual dysfunction or venereal and sexual diseases, including AIDS and syphilis” notes Radio Free Europe.

According to EuroNews, users on Twitter citicised the rules, claiming if implemented in full, the people such as Stephen Hawking would be prevented from teaching students in Iran.

Education went through a disastrous period of total state control in Iran after the 1979 Islamist revolution, according to Al-Monitor’s account, until many schools were successfully privatized in the 1990s.

Uber driver ‘washed genitals’ after rape attempt A DISTRAUGHT Uber driver washed his genitals with a bottle of water after a passenger, he tried to rape, said she had HIV to stop him attacking her.

Suleiman Abdirizak, 42, ‘freaked out’ when the woman told him she was infected with the disease and doused his penis with water from a squash bottle, it is claimed. He was so upset, his victim had to comfort him and reassure him he would not contract the disease, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told. Abdirizak is alleged to have raped the woman as he drove her home from a night out in Hoxton, east London. Prosecutor Sarah Morris said the victim had been out of a meal and drink at Hoxton

Bar and Grill on November 10 last year and felt unwell after drinking a bottle of wine. She ordered an Uber and Abdirizak picked her up but took her on the wrong route home, jurors heard. He suggested she cancel an Uber pool request, where passengers ride together for a cheaper rate, so that she was his only customer. He then made some “fairly inappropriate” comments to his passenger, Morris said. During the journey Abdirizak turned off into a dead end in Stepney, and pulled up as the woman slept to fondle her thigh. Morris said: “He got into the back and put his penis into her mouth.” “He said: “I’ll only drive you if you suck my d***.” She told him a lie, she told him she had HIV to

keep him away from her. “He immediately left her alone and rinsed out his mouth and penis with water”. “She started comforting him and reassured him that she could not get it by touching.” “She told her flatmate about what had just happened when she got home and he telephoned the police.” ‘The journey should have taken about 20 minutes. They were in that cab for 43 minutes. His telephone shows that for nine minutes they were in fact in Buckle Street. “That’s where the rape took place.” Abdirizak said it was the woman who told him to stop the car because she was going to be sick. ‘He said she got into the front seat next to him, getting close to him.”

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Health India among 5 countries with highest Effective way to treat HIV is here rheumatic heart disease deaths

New York With 1,19,100 deaths, India is among the five nations — Indonesia, the DR Congo, China and Pakistan that accounted for 73 per cent of rheumatic heart disease deaths globally in 2015, a study has showed.

The death toll in the other four nations stood at 1.18 million in Indonesia, 8,05,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 72,600 in China and 18,900 in Pakistan.

Rheumatic heart disease is a condition of damaged heart valves caused by bacterial infection that leads to rheumatic

fever.

The highest estimated death rates — more than 10 per 1,00,000 — occurred in India, the Central African Republic, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Lesotho, Marshall Islands, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

“The persistence of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease reflects the challenges many countries face in improving the social, environmental, and economic conditions that lead to the

Too much of good cholesterol bad for your health

While high levels of “good” cholesterol have long known to be beneficial, its excess can also raise your risk of death, researchers claim.

Cholesterol is a fatty substance known as a lipid and is vital for the normal functioning of the body. However, the findings showed that people with extremely high levels of good cholesterol have a higher mortality rate than people with normal levels. For men with extremely high levels, the mortality rate was 106 per cent higher than the normal group, while for women it was found to be 68 per cent higher. “These results radically change the way

we understand ‘good’ cholesterol. Doctors have been used to congratulating patients who had a very high level of HDL in their blood. But we should no longer do so, as this study shows a dramatically higher mortality rate,” said Borge Nordestgaard, Professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. For the study, the team analysed data of 116,000 people. They were followed for an average of six years and the result showed over 10,500 deaths. On the other hand, people with extremely low levels of HDL in the blood were also at increased risk of mortality, the researchers said.

disease,” said Gregory A. Roth, Assistant Professor at the University of Washington Further, the study showed that mortality has not appreciably declined in these regions, which include some of the world’s poorest countries, since 1990, although the risk of death from the disease has dropped around the world over the last 25 years.

The number of individuals who were living with rheumatic heart disease had not declined, either, the researchers said in the paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

In addition, about one per cent of school age children in these endemic countries have evidence of rheumatic heart disease. “We have very costeffective interventions that treat strep throat and prevent rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease from getting worse, but these children often don’t have access to the care they need,” said David Watkins, from the University of Washington School of Medicine..

New Delhi Scientists have identified a more effective way to treat people suffering from HIV. Researchers from University of South Carolina (USC) in the US identified a novel human protein variant that can be targeted to prevent the human immunodeficiency virus from harming HIVpositive individuals.

Most HIV drugs target the virus but the virus is not stable, it always mutates - problematic because the virus can become resistant to effective drugs,” said I-Chueh Huang, assistant professor at USC. The new study focused on HIV1, the most widespread version worldwide.

HIV can be classified into R5 and X4 viruses. R5 viruses are exclusively associated with primary infection, and X4 viruses emerge in later stages of HIV diseases in half of HIV carriers Detection of X4 is an indication that the patient’s HIV infection has progressed to a very toxic state. Researchers identified a

novel variant within the previously identified family of proteins.

They nicknamed it “Delta 20,” an immune system protein that suppresses the most damaging HIV strains, X4, by preventing

the virus from infecting cells.

This method differs from the more traditional method of targeting viruses that may eventually become resistant to specific medical therapies, researchers said.

“Much more research needs to be done, but we may have identified a new approach to treating acute HIV infection,” Huang said.

“Our finding will not help develop a vaccine because the focus is on innate immunity rather than the virus,” Huang said.

Tips to lose weight without diminution London There is no diet that will do what eating healthy does. Skip the diet, just eat healthy!In India, obesity has been increasing over the past three decades. A reduction in body weight is totally depends on usage of energy.

Weight loss= Energy in < Energy out Weight gain= Energy in > Energy out Balance weight= Energy in = Energy out.

Thermodynamics is defined as a regulation that restricts or restrains on our body. Junk food, sedentary lifestyle leads as silent self destruction that produce obsess and overweight.

People assume that the only reason they gain or lose weight is because of calories but our bodies are much more complicated than that. Different foods affect hunger and hormones in unconventional mode. Excessive weight is associated with increasing health issues including sugar and cardiovascular ailments.

Here are some ideas, as reported in the Independent,

with which you can do that doesn’t involve restriction:Eat “low crab” food to reduce calories.

-Balance meal in a day Eat one portion of protein, carbs, green vegetables each meal.

-Two snacks a day, like protein bar- “paleo” a significant portion of a typical western diet, eliminate this foods will helps you to reduce calories.

- Daily weighting produce

‘unexpected’ result to encourage effective behavior.

All diet works exactly in the same way. Some diets just place unnecessary restrictions in the hope that it will create, all-important calorie deficit.

Also, you can use calorie tracking app such as “My Fitness Pal” or my own app “Harry Smith Fitness”.Losing weight is a mind game- change your mind, change your body.

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

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Can nicotine reduction help in curbing addiction?

Washington DC According to a new research, a study examining the effects of nicotine reduction among more vulnerable smokers supports the FDA’s recent recommendation for lowering nicotine to nonaddictive levels.

The research focuses on the relationship between behavior and health, particularly in disadvantaged populations, a group that is “overrepresented” among smokers, according to the study’s authors.

In their latest study, the research team, led by Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and VCBH director, examined the addiction potential of cigarettes with reduced nicotine content in three vulnerable populations of smokers — individuals with psychiatric disorders (i.e., affective disorders, opioid-use disorder), and socioeconomically disadvantaged women.

Higgins shared, “Evidence in relatively healthy and socially stable smokers indicates that reducing the nicotine content of cigarettes reduces their addictiveness. Whether that same effect would be seen in populations highly vulnerable to tobacco addiction was unknown.

“The multi-site, double-blind study is “the first large, controlled study to examine the dosedependent effects of cigarettes with reduced nicotine content on the reinforcing effects, subjective effects, and smoking topography of vulnerable populations,” say the study’s authors.

The study ran between March 2015 and April 2016 and included 169 daily smokers, including 120 women and 49 men.

Participating centers included UVM, Brown University, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Kansas.

Lack of sleep may increase risk of dementia in older adults!

New York A new research has claimed that older adults who don’t get proper sleep at night are at higher risk of developing dementia.

The findings showed that spending less time in REM (rapid

eye movement) sleep, which is when most of our dreaming occurs — and taking longer to enter REM sleep can both raise the risk of dementia.

Each percentage reduction in REM sleep was associated with a nine per cent increase in the risk of all-cause dementia and an eight per cent increase in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease dementia.

Matthew Pase, a doctorate student at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) in the US said,”Different stages of sleep

may differentially affect key features of Alzheimer’s disease.

Our findings implicate REM sleep mechanisms as predictors of dementia.”

For the study, a team of researchers studied 321

participants over the age of 60.

It is common for people with dementia to experience sleep disturbance. However, it is unclear if sleep disturbance occurs as a consequence of dementia or if disturbed sleep is associated with the risk of dementia in the future, the researchers said.

Previous study had revealed that people who consistently sleep more than nine hours each night had double the risk of developing dementia in 10 years as compared to participants who slept for nine hours or less.

A total of 56 of the participants were diagnosed with affective disorders, 60 with opioid dependence, and 53 were socioeconomically disadvantaged women.

Each study participant completed fourteen 2- to 4-hour sessions, abstaining from smoking for 6 to 8 hours before each of the sessions, which were organized in 3 phases.

Phase 1 included sessions 1 to 5 and included sampling of the research cigarettes in doubleblind conditions, beginning with the smoking of the participant’s regular brand cigarette in session 1 and then smoking 1 research cigarette of identical appearance, but varying doses of nicotine in sessions 2 to 5.

Participants were required to use a plastic cigarette holder when smoking research cigarettes, in order to measure smoking topography, number of puffs, length and speed of each puff.

The Phase 2 sessions (6-11) provided participants with an opportunity to select which cigarette they preferred to smoke among 6 different dose combinations and used a computer program, which recorded which of two cigarettes participants preferred for that session and whether or not they wanted to continue to smoke that selection after two puffs or abstain.

Common anti-obesity, diabetes drug may help lower brain pressure!

London Researchers have said that drugs that are commonly used to treat patients with either obesity or Type 2 diabetes could be used as a novel new way to lower brain pressure.

A traumatic brain injury, hydrocephalus, accumulated water in the brain, as well as stroke can cause growing pressure inside your skull which is a major feature of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH).

IHH causes disabling daily headaches and severely raised pressure around the nerves in the eye. According to the study, GLP-1 agonist drugs which is used in the treatment of diabetes and obesity reduced intracranial pressure in an animal model of raised brain pressure.

Just 10 minutes of dosing of GLP-1 agonist led to rapid and dramatic reduce brain pressure

by around 44 per cent, the researchers said, adding that the effects lasted for at least 24 hours.

Alexandra Sinclair, from the University of Birmingham said,”These findings are rapidly translatable into a new novel treatment strategy for IIH as GLP-1 agonists are safe and widely-used drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity.”

Sinclair added,”They are also potentially game-changing for other conditions featuring raised brain pressure, including stroke, hydrocephalus and traumatic brain injury.”

Current primary treatment in IIH is acetazolamide, which does not work well for many patients, with severe side effects.

Sinclair said,”We are very excited that this novel treatment strategy could make a landmark change for future patient care.”

Want to reduce alcohol consumption?

Doing this might help!

London Do you want to cut down your intake of alcohol? Well, a new study, led by Indian-origin researcher has found that just 11 minutes of mindfulness training may help reduce alcohol consumption.

The mindfulness training includes a combination of meditation, body awareness and yoga.

Lead author Sunjeev Kamboj, from University College, London said,”We found that a very brief, simple exercise in mindfulness can help drinkers cut back, and the benefits can be seen quite quickly.” Mindfulness teaches a heightened awareness of one’s feelings and bodily sensations, so that they pay attention to cravings instead of suppressing them. By these strategies the participants were able to tolerate the cravings to drink as temporary events without needing to act on them.

Kamboj added,”Practising mindfulness can make a person more aware of their tendency to respond reflexively to urges. By being more aware of their cravings, we think, the study participants were able to bring intention back into the equation, instead of automatically

reaching for the drink when they feel a craving.”Practising mindfulness can make a person more aware of their tendency to respond reflexively to urges. By being more aware of their cravings, we think, the study participants were able to bring intention back into the equation, instead of automatically reaching for the drink when they feel a craving.”

In the study, after an 11-minute training session and encouragement to continue practising mindfulness — which involves focusing on what’s happening in the present moment, heavy drinkers drank less over the next week than people who were taught relaxation techniques.practising mindfulness — which involves

focusing on what’s happening in the present moment, heavy drinkers drank less over the next week than people who were taught relaxation techniques.

The mindfulness group drank 9.3 fewer units of alcohol (roughly equivalent to three pints of beer) in the following week compared to the week preceding the study, while there was no significant reduction in alcohol consumption among those who had learned relaxation techniques.

Severe alcohol problems are often preceded by patterns of heavy drinking, so the researchers are hopeful that mindfulness could help to reduce drinking before more severe problems develop, the researchers said.

29 Aug. - 4 Sept., 2017

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Greek Penne and Chicken Chicken and Corn Chili

Ingredients: 1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta 1 1/2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup chopped red onion 2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts in water 1 tomato, chopped

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon dried oregano salt to taste ground black pepper to taste Directions: In a large pot with boiling salted water cook penne pasta until al dente. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat melt butter, add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add chopped chicken and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium- low.

Drain and chop artichoke hearts and add them, chopped tomato, feta cheese, fresh parsley, lemon juice, dried oregano, and drained penne pasta to the large skillet. Cook until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Season with salt and ground black pepper. Serve warm.

Fiery Fish Tacos with Crunchy Corn Salsa Ingredients: 1 cup corn 1/2 cup diced red onion 1 cup peeled, chopped jicama 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped 1 lime, zested and juiced 2 tablespoons sour cream 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon ground black pepper 2 tablespoons salt 6 (4 ounce) fillets tilapia 2 tablespoons olive oil

Ingredients: 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa 2 teaspoons garlic powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon chili powder salt to taste ground black pepper to taste 1 (11 ounce) can Mexicanstyle corn 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans Directions: Place chicken and salsa in

the slow cooker the night before you want to eat this chili. Season with garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Cook 6 to 8 hours on Low setting.

About 3 to 4 hours before you want to eat, shred the chicken with 2 forks. Return the meat to the pot, and continue cooking.

Stir the corn and the pinto beans into the slow cooker. Simmer until ready to serve.

Chicken and Red Wine Sauce

2 corn tortillas, warmed Directions: Preheat grill for high heat.

In a medium bowl, mix together corn, red onion, jicama, red bell pepper, and cilantro. Stir in lime juice and zest. In a small bowl, combine cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, and salt. Brush each fillet with olive oil, and sprinkle with spices.

Arrange fillets on grill grate, and cook for 3 minutes per side. For each fiery fish taco, top two corn tortillas with fish, sour cream, and corn salsa.

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs Ingredients: 3 tablespoons soy sauce 3 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons sherry 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 2 inch pieces 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained skewers Directions: In a shallow glass dish, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic powder. Stir the chicken pieces and pineapple into the marinade until well coated. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2

hours. Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken and pineapple alternately onto skewers. Grill 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until chicken juices run clear.

Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon minced garlic 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1 tablespoon paprika 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup red wine salt and pepper to taste Directions: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Cook garlic in oil until tender. Place chicken in the

skillet, and cook about 10 minutes on each side, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Drain oil from skillet.

Sprinkle chicken with paprika and 1 cup brown sugar. Pour red wine around chicken. Cover, and simmer about 15 to 20 minutes; lightly baste chicken with wine sauce while cooking. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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Ugandan girls sing aloud to break period taboos A BRAVE group of Ugandan schoolchildren have made it their mission to break the taboo around periods in their country. The teenagers

from the remote region of Karamoja dub themselves the Period Club and sing, rap and perform plays about menstrual hygiene in a bid to debunk menstruation myths. They are also teaching their community to make reusable sanitary pads to help improve women's health - breaking down menstrual taboos and restoring women's dignity, while also getting girls back into school. The inspiring youngsters, from St Mary's School in Namalu, used to go to the toilet in the bush and girls often skipped lessons when on their period - but now they are working closely with WaterAid to change that. The charity has helped improve school life by building latrines and teaching students about the importance of good sanitation and hygiene, as well how to safely manage their periods and make reusable sanitary pads. The students are now helping transform lives in their community by forming a WASH Club (water, sanitation and hygiene) - using drama, music and games to spread the message.

Samsung scion gets 5-yr jail term Lee held guilty in bribery case involving then Korean president THE billionaire head of South Korea’s Samsung Group, Jay Y. Lee, was sentenced to five years in jail for bribery on Friday in a watershed for the country’s decades-long economic order dominated by powerful, family-run conglomerates.

After a six-month trial over a scandal that brought down the then president, Park Geunhye, a court ruled that Lee had paid bribes in anticipation of favours from Park.

The court also found Lee guilty of hiding assets abroad, embezzlement and perjury. Lee, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world’s biggest corporate empires, has been held since February on charges that he bribed Park to help secure control of a conglomerate that owns Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading smartphone and chip maker, and has interests ranging from drugs and home appliances to insurance and hotels. Lee, who emerged stony-faced from the Seoul courtroom in a dark suit, but without a tie, and holding a document envelope, was escorted by justice ministry officials back to his detention centre. “This case is a matter of Lee Jae-yong and Samsung Group executives, who had been steadily preparing for Lee’s succession ... bribing the president,” Seoul Central District Court Judge Kim Jin-dong said, using Lee’s Korean name. Kim said that as the group’s heir apparent, Lee “stood to benefit the most” from any political favours for Samsung. Lee denied wrongdoing, and one of his lawyers, Song Wu-cheol, said he would appeal.

“The entire guilty verdict is unacceptable,” Song said, adding he

was confident his client’s innocence would be affirmed by a higher court. The case is expected to be appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court, likely next year. The five year-sentence - one of the longest given to a South Korean business leader - is a landmark for South Korea, where the family-run conglomerates - or chaebols - have long been revered for helping transform the once war-ravaged country into a global economic powerhouse. But they have

more recently been criticized for holding back the economy and stifling small businesses and start-ups. Samsung, a symbol of the country’s rise from poverty following the 1950-53 Korean War, has come to epitomize the cosy and sometimes corrupt ties between politicians and the chaebols. “The ruling is a turning point for chaebols,” said Chang Seajin, a business professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

ISIS threatens to kill Alligators can be guest to hijabi porn star Mia flood victims, say police A LEBANESE-American exporn star says ISIS threatened to behead her in gruesome mockedup execution photos. Mia Khalifa - a former topranked performer on the adult website PornHub - says the bloodthirsty terrorist group sent her the gruesome images using social media. But Khalifa said that she won't give the

extremists what they want: '[Y]ou can't show weakness. That's exactly what they're looking for. I really try and just make it look like it rolls off, but I'll admit, it gets to you after a while.' Khalifa moved from Beirut, Lebanon, to the US at the age of 10 before moving to Miami, where she's currently based. The 21-year-old history graduate's brief stint in the porn industry drew criticism from many, including those in the Middle East who branded her a 'disgrace' to the region.

The sale of erotic materials is banned in nearly every Muslim country except Lebanon and Turkey. She has since re-tweeted the abuse sparked by those who have issues with her Middle Eastern origins. Many took issue with a scene from one of her videos showing her having sex while wearing a hijab, part of traditional female Muslim dress, describing it as 'problematic and gross'. One Twitter user threatened her head 'will be cut off soon', while another warned her she would be 'the first person in Hellfire'. Khalifa - who comes from a Christian family - told The Washington Post in 2015 that she was surprised this scene in particular caused anger and was meant to be satirical. She also came under fire for her tattoos relating to Lebanon, including the opening line from the Lebanese national anthem and another of the Lebanese Forces Cross, which is meant to 'show solidarity with my father's political views after a bombing in Lebanon in 2012'.

WITH the threat of extreme flooding comes the possibility of bizarre objects floating down the street, as Hurricane Harvey is expected to dump five feet of rain on some parts of Texas. The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office has already warned that alligators will seek higher ground during flood events, tweeting photos of gators sheltering on a porch and under a car. If forecasts hold and Harvey meanders slowly by the coast dumping rain for days, parts of Texas could see record-shattering floods.

With the high waters could come other creepy visitors in addition to alligators.

Last year, flooding in Fort Bend County, on the outskirts of Houston, drove spiders and water moccasins into people’s homes. “Please be aware that flooding is driving wildlife out of their habitat,” the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s office posted on Facebook after heavy

flooding hit the area in June of 2016. “We are advising folks not to stop and take photos or engage the animals.”

Floodwaters have in the past also created the gruesome specter of unearthed coffins, though none have been reported yet in Texas. Last year, flooding in Louisiana sent coffins floating down the streets.