The Severn Crossing tolls will be abolished in December. From December 13 all vehicles using the bridges will be able to travel for free.
The change marks Prince Charles being bestowed with the title 60 years ago along with his 70th birthday.
The M48 bridge over the River Severn will be closed for maintenance this weekend due to roadworks between Junction 1 A403 (Aust) and Junction 2 A466 Wye Valley Link Road (Chepstow).
The closure will be in place from 4am on Saturday 12 August until 10pm on Sunday 13 August.
The Severn Crossing tolls will be abolished next year, the government has said. Currently cars are charged £6.70 for a return journey.
There are currently no trains running between Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach due to a train striking a wheel barrow.
Tickets being accepted on local bus routes.
One lane is closed and traffic is slow due to a broken down vehicle on the Eastbound M4 between J22 for the M49 and J21 for the M48.
Police are on the scene and recovery is underway.
There are very strong winds on the M48 Severn Bridge this morning.
A speed restriction is in place of 40mph.


The Narendra Modi government scored a century on the foreign policy front in the first year as bilateral contacts at the top level were established with 101 countries.
In the second year, the most important engagement for the Modi government would be the Africa summit in October which for the first time heads 54 African nations would be invited. The prime minister is also slated to travel to Israel – first by an Indian Prime Minister – but the dates are yet to be fixed. Asked about the outcomes of bilateral meetings with the leaders of 101 countries, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the foreign direct investment increased by 39 per cent between April 2013 and February 2014. “In absolute number it is $28.81 billion of FDI inflow,” she said on Sunday.
While the prime minister undertook 18 visits, Swaraj travelled to 21 countries and her deputy Gen V K Singh (rtd) went to 17 nations. Rest of the bilateral meetings took place on the sidelines of the multilateral summits all over the world.
Swaraj confirmed that Modi would be the first Indian Prime Minister to travel to Israel, but that won't change India's policies towards Palestine.
“The prime minister would be visiting Israel, but dates have to be worked out. But the prime minister’s visit does not mean any tilt towards Israel. There will be no change in India's foreign policy on Palestine. India will continue to support the Palestine cause. I am also packaging a tour of Israel, Palestine and Jordon later this year,” said the minister.
India had established full diplomatic relationship with Israel in 1992 though it had recognised the country in 1950. No Indian Prime Minister or President has ever visited Israel but former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon become the first premier visit India in 2003.
Israel is currently one of India's biggest supplier of military products, which was made possible by Sharon during his visit a decade ago that transformed the bilateral relations.
On the African summit, Swaraj said it would be India's biggest diplomatic initiative since 1983 when India hosted both Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summits. Going against the standard diplomatic norms, India is inviting the heads of all the 54 African nations for the summit to be held in Delhi between October 26-30. In the recent past, New Delhi has put more emphasis on Africa where China enjoys a clear advantage having established diplomatic relations with all the 54 African nations, which benefits Beijing on trade and economy front.
African countries account for over 60 per cent of the total concessional lines of credit India extends. India had extended credit over $4.2 billion between April 2009 and June 2014. However, there are complaints about Indian programmes lagging behind schedule. In another first, Modi would travel to five central Asian nations – Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan – in July while returning from Russia where he would attend the BRICS summit.


Big Time View! This .54 acre tract is just mins from I40 and even closer to Hurricane Marina. Lot has been recently cleaned up and is build ready. Just around the corner to boat launch at Eagle Creek/Pucketts Point. Owner will build to suit! Pick a cabin and get it done with the owner.


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Police have arrested six people in connection with an Arizona drug investigation.
The Scottsdale Police Department worked with the Drug Enforcement Agency to investigate drug activity by an organization last year, local news station ABC 15 reports.
The investigation led police to search four homes on March 1, collectively finding two kilograms of cocaine, 1,000 suspected fentanyl pills, 16 weapons, some that were reported stolen, and $28,000 in cash. Police also found thousands of rounds of ammunition and body armor.
All arrested will face various weapons and state drug charges. One of the suspects admitted to being a member of the MS-13 gang.


Remnants of bloody rule echo throughout Indonesian archipelago.
As Indonesia marks the death of its former president, survivors of Soeharto's military backed government - from East Timor to Aceh and the Javanese countryside - have sparked a debate about whether the former leader should be forgiven.
The five-star former general, who died on Sunday afternoon, took over Indonesia in 1966, exploiting an alleged coup to purge Indonesia of the world's largest communist party outside China and sideline Indonesia's first president Sukarno.
Between half a million to a million people were killed as the army organised Muslim groups and ordinary citizens to take their revenge on the Indonesian Communist party.
Hundreds of thousands of others were jailed, killed or simply disappeared as Soeharto cracked down on opponents and stamped Indonesia's rule on territories as far apart as Aceh in the west to Timor and Papua in the east.
With the blood of as many as one and a half million people on his hands, and allegedly billions of dollars of state funds in his bank accounts, the wily former dictator has never faced court or had to account for his actions.
As Soeharto lingered close to death over the past three weeks, many prominent figures and several political parties started calling for Soeharto to be officially pardoned over the lingering corruption charges.
After initially announcing it was willing to make an out of court settlement with Soeharto’s family, the government has since said it will not drop corruption charges against the former dictator for embezzling $1.5bn from state foundations.
Amien Rais, the former speaker of parliament who was one of the first politicians to call for Soeharto to step down in 1998, has led the call for an official pardon.
Rais argued that the former president's legacy of massive economic, industrial and social development outweighed the negative influences of his rule.
But not all who felt the rough edge of his power, are so forgiving.
"I don't agree with a pardon. What Soeharto did was unforgivable and unforgettable," said Yusuf Isaak, a former journalist who was detained for 10 years for allegedly being a communist.
Other former political prisoners say that while they might privately forgive Soeharto, he should not be forgiven or pardoned by the state.
"What he did was a serious human rights crime, so he should be tried," said Adyasman Sadgo Prawiro, who spent 14 years in jail for heading the left-leaning national Forestry Workers Union.
"But privately, if he were to admit he was wrong, we could accept it."
Prawiro leads a group demanding that ex-communists be given an official apology and given compensation for the abuses against them.
He says there are 20 million Indonesians alive today, the children, grandchildren and brothers and sisters of the jailed communists, who endured decades of discrimination.
They were turned away from jobs, were not allowed to become civil servants, to join the police force or the military, and were rejected from state universities.
In the now independent nation of East Timor, the trauma of Soeharto's rule is deeply ingrained on the national psyche.
But East Timor’s recently-elected president has called on his people to forgive Soeharto for the 1975 invasion, and for the almost 180,000 people who died as result of the 24 years of Indonesian occupation.
"Today we are free, we have survived, we got our independence, and so we should not be hostage, no matter how tragic it was, to the past," Jose Ramos Horta told Al Jazeera.
Horta, who lost three brothers and a sister during the military operation and was jointly awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1996, says he knows from personal experience how hard it is to forget the brutality of the operation.
"I'm not speaking academically, every time we, my mother and I see their face in photos, we all feel incredibly sad," he said.
Putting Soeharto, or the generals under him, on trial would "undermine this young democracy", said Horta.
But Jose Luis, from rights group Sahe, says many East Timorese were disappointed that Soeharto and his generals escaped prosecution for the invasion and subsequent military campaign.
"Not just the Timor case, buy various cases such as Aceh. He should have been put on trial so that this could never be repeated and to protect Indonesia's future," said Luis, speaking from Dili.
Under pressure from the United Nations, Indonesia held a much-criticised human rights trial, charging military, police and militia commanders for their role in the violence that swept East Timor in the wake of the 1999 independence vote.
However, despite the deaths of up to 1,500 people, all except a militia leader were found innocent while not a single official has faced trial for all the atrocities committed prior to 1999.
At the other end of the archipelago, in Aceh, where an estimated 20,000 people died during multiple military operations against the separatist Free Aceh Movement, anger at Soeharto is still palpable.
Aceh has largely been peaceful since the signing of a landmark peace deal in 2005 – an agreement prompted by the massive loss of life caused by the Asian tsunami.
But former rebel leaders such as Teungku Nasiruddin, who was jailed and spent a year in solitary confinement after the collapse of an earlier peace deal, says Soeharto should answer for his crimes.
"Maybe privately he can be forgiven, but the legal process has to run its course, and he should be put on trial for what he did here," said Nasiruddin.
Whilst perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, the waves of "ethnic cleansing" in the former Yugoslavia, the Nazis and Saddam Hussein have all had to answer for their crimes, the smiling former general has escaped this infamy.
Even the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia now faces a watered down war crimes tribunal for the killing of an estimated two million of its own people.
If Soeharto had not been fighting communism, engaged in the Cold war geo-political struggle of his era, there would have been much greater pressure from the West to put Soeharto and his generals on trial, say observers.
"Soeharto really got lucky," says Galuh Wandita, from the International Centre for Transitional Justice.
"First of all there was the cold war, and then there was terrorism."
Although Soeharto had already resigned by the time of the 9/11 attacks, Indonesia was courted by the West as an ally in the war on terror, particularly after a series of domestic terror attacks.
The US renewed military assistance which had been dropped in reaction to the East Timor violence and Australia resumed military training of Indonesia's elite Kopassus troops.
Soeharto's former political party, Golkar, and the military have remained powerful players in today's government, ensuring that Soeharto and his generals evaded justice, points out Wandita.
Soeharto's successors, Yusuf Habibie and Abdurruhman Wahid both promised to prosecute the numerous human rights violations perpetrated during his rule.
But with a corrupt judiciary, and the military opposed to being held accountable for their actions, these attempts ground to a halt.
Only one case, a massacre at a Muslim boarding school in west Aceh, was ever brought to trial. A soldier was sentenced but he later disappeared, under mysterious circumstances.
And the murder of a supreme court judge by Soeharto’s youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, for finding him guilty of corruption, served as a cautionary tale about the limits of prosecuting the Soeharto family.
Tommy was given a 15-year sentence, but has since been released after serving just six years of his sentence.


Beantown Bedding cofounders Kirsten Lambert and Joan Ripple.
College students can find time for all sorts of activities, but one chore that always seems to drop off the bottom of their to-do list is washing the sheets.
Two Hingham entrepreneurs have come up with a solution: linens made from a fiber called Tencel, derived from Eucalyptus trees, which you can simply toss into a compost bin or trash can when they’re dirty. The sheets from their start-up, Beantown Bedding, are both compostable and biodegradable. A set that includes a fitted sheet, flat sheet, and pillowcase costs $25.
They started developing the concept of disposable sheets last year, got their first wholesale orders at a trade show in March, and received their first inventory in June.
Heather Henriksen, director of the office of sustainability at Harvard University, said she thought the concept of compostable sheets might have merits in places where there isn’t sufficient water to regularly wash linens, like a disaster relief camp.
But on a college campus, she suggested that using a washing machine or laundry service is still better. “I think the most important R in the 3R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) is, of course, reduce — do not create the waste in the first place,” she said.
The sheets from Beantown are intended to last about a month. “After that, they start to pill and look worn,” says Lambert.
Right now, Beantown’s products are being produced in China, but the founders say they’re hoping to find a domestic factory.
It sounds like the outline of an espionage thriller: a team of top techies from the National Security Agency vanish from the intelligence agency’s Maryland campus, collect $2 million, and resurface at a “hackerspace” in Cambridge.
Their objective: marketing a new, ultra-secure and super-scalable database technology, originally created within the walls of the NSA, to large corporations.
But it’s also the true-life story of the latest “big data” start-up to get funding from Massachusetts venture capital firms. It’s called Sqrrl, and the founding team is still in the process of relocating from the Washington, D.C., area. They’ll be operating out of the new hack/reduce collaborative workspace on the edge of Kendall Square. The $2 million in funding comes from Atlas Venture of Cambridge and Matrix Partners of Waltham.
Sqrrl is planning to sell and support its own commercial version of the open source database software known as Accumulo. Accumulo has an interesting history: it was originally built at the NSA and based on a data storage architecture called BigTable that Google created to store vast amounts of information — like Google Earth’s satellite images of the entire planet — across multiple data centers.
Somewhat amazingly, the government decided to release the code for Accumulo to the open source community, so that others could use it and improve it.
“That’s a growing trend in government, but it’s still not exactly commonplace,” said Sqrrl chief executive Oren Falkowitz.
Second, said Falkowitz, is a “cell-level” approach to security that can grant or refuse access to individual elements of information — like a Social Security number or medical diagnosis — within the database.


KPH Dream Cricket,owner of IPL franchisee Kings XI Punjab,has narrowed down losses sharply by 95%.
KPH Dream Cricket,the owner of IPL franchisee Kings XI Punjab,has narrowed down its losses sharply by 95 per cent to Rs 1.52 crore in 2011-12 financial year from a loss of Rs 35.26 crore in 2010-11. According to the shareholding pattern in the company,actress Preity Zinta and industrialist Ness Wadia have 23 per cent stake each while rest is owned by another industrialist Mohit Burman,Karan Paul Chairman of Apeejay-Surrendra Group among others.
The loss of Rs 35.26 crore for 2010-11 was the highest ever loss suffered by the company since the commencement of IPL in 2008,according to financial documents,including profit and loss account,of the company filed with Registrars of Companies here.
It reported net loss of Rs 11.03 crore and Rs 21.55 crore in financial year 2009-10 and 2008-09 respectively.
Notably,IPL franchisee Kings XI Punjab was hoping to reach break even point by March 2011.
The company has not only managed to reduce its losses considerably,its revenue from IPL operations has also surged.
KPH Dream reported total revenue of Rs 90.16 crore in 2011-12,up by over 80 per cent from the revenue clocked in corresponding period,as per company’s financial statements.
King XI Punjab’s major source of income is from franchise rights,sponsorship fee and ticket sales.
As far as expenditure is concerned,KPH Dream has also been able to contain total expenses by cutting down cost of employee benefit expenses,finance,insurance,auditors’ payment.
Total expenses including players’ cost,depreciation and amortisation went up by just 8 per cent to Rs 91.68 crore for 2011-12 as against expenses of Rs 84.99 crore in 2010-11.
Having registered office in Chandigarh,KPH Dream had committed USD 76 million as franchise cost for over ten years.
1 Jaya Prada to join Congress?


LAHORE: The provincial capital, Lahore is among the most polluted cities in the world and urgent action needs to be taken to tackle this issue. Air pollution caused by traffic, industries, crop burning and burning of solid waste are the major contributors of smog and the layer of smog will thicken in the coming days.
These facts were revealed by WWF’s Living Planet Report 2018 on Tuesday. The report, which was presented in the presence of environmental journalists and researchers, presented a sobering picture of the impact of human activities on the world’s wildlife, forests, oceans, rivers and climate. It also underlined the urgent need for the global community to collectively rethink and redefine how we value, protect and restore nature.
Sharing his thoughts at the launch of the report, WWF-Pakistan Director General Hammad Naqi Khan said the Living Planet Index (LPI), which tracks trends in global wildlife abundance, indicates that global populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles declined, on average, by 60% between 1970 and 2014. These declining populations are especially pronounced in South America (89%), Africa (56%) and the Indo-Pacific (64%) region which includes Pakistan. In addition to these declining trends, Pakistan is adversely affected by illegal wildlife trade which has deeply impacted our biodiversity.
He said the smuggling of freshwater turtles and pangolins were a growing concern as well as rising rates of deforestation. “Increasing deforestation has contributed to increased threats for species such as the snow and common leopard which are fast losing their habitat. Pakistan is experiencing a steady rise in carbon emissions, which contributes to global issues such as climate change and global warming,” he said.
Khan said Lahore and Karachi were among the 10 most polluted cities in the world in terms of air quality, according to air quality monitor AirVisual.
“Humanity and the way we feed, fuel and finance our societies and economies are pushing the nature and the services that power and sustain us to the brink, he said while quoting the contents of the report.
The Living Planet Report 2018 presented a comprehensive overview of the state of the natural world, 20 years after the flagship report was first published. Through indicators such as the Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Species Habitat Index (SHI), the IUCN Red List Index (RLI) and the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), as well as Planetary Boundaries and the Ecological Footprint, the report paints a singular disturbing picture: human activity is pushing the planet’s natural systems that support life on Earth to the edge.
He urged people to move around with face masks to protect themselves from breathing problems, eye, nose, and throat infections.
The report highlights that over recent decades, human activity has also severely impacted the habitats and natural resources wildlife and humanity depend on such as oceans, forests, coral reefs, wetlands and mangroves.
Globally, nature provides services worth around $125 trillion a year, while also helping ensure the supply of fresh air, clean water, food, energy, medicines and other products and materials. The report specifically looked at the importance of pollinators which are responsible for $235-577 billion in crop production per year, and how a changing climate, intensive agricultural practices, invasive species and emerging diseases have impacted their abundance, diversity and health.
Evidence shows that the two agendas – for the environment and human development – must converge if we are to build a sustainable future for all. The Living Planet Report 2018 highlighted the opportunity the global community has to protect and restore the nature leading up to 2020, a critical year when world leaders were expected to review the progress made on the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
WWF is calling on people, businesses and governments to mobilise and deliver on a comprehensive framework agreement for nature and people under the CBD, one that galvanizes public and private action to protect and restore global biodiversity and nature and bend the curve on the devastating trends highlighted in the Living Planet Report 2018.


Mulayam`s son Prateek Yadav attracts eye balls during ride in Rs.
[India], Jan. 14(ANI): The ruling Samajwadi Party projects itself as 'champions of democratic socialism' and left-wing populism, a contradiction surfaced recently when party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's second son Prateek Yadav, drove his Rs. five crore Lamborghini on the roads of Lucknow on Friday.
Prateek is also a gym freak and has his own gym, which was inaugurated by his father.
Although Prateek lacks a flair for politics, but his passion for high end luxury is hogging the limelight.
Prateek is Mulayam's younger son from his second marriage to Sadhana Gupta.
In his childhood, Prateek contracted pneumonia while studying in Dehradun. A steroid injection made his weight shoot up to 103 kgs.
Prateek is married to his long-time sweetheart Aparna Bisht and they have a three-year-old daughter.
Prateek is a University of Leeds graduate and manages the family's massive land holdings. He plans to develop them into residential, commercial and industrial complexes.
He had his fair share of controversy. In November 2012, a group of Samajwadi Party workers entered the party office in Lucknow and demanded that Prateek be given a ticket to contest from Azamgarh for the 2014 general election.
His mother pushed for a ticket, as did his uncle Shivpal Yadav. However Prateek was not given an election ticket.
Sadhana Gupta's political ambitions for her son have been repeatedly dashed. But with Mulayam agreeing to allow his choti bahu Aparna to contest the upcoming assembly election, there is another sun rising in the Samajwadi Party.
Aparna Yadav admires patriarch Mulayam and has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A trained classical and semi-classical singer, she has also won acclaim for her social work from the United Nations.
She is now the face of the Samajwadi Party (SP) from the Lucknow Cantonment (Cantt) area for the 2017 assembly polls.
Post graduate in international relations and politics from Manchester University, England.


We've got what we need now, thank you very much, so all this Yahoo talk can cease. That's what Microsoft chief advertising strategist Yusuf Mehdi seems to be telling Wall Street. At a Goldman Sachs conference Wednesday, an analyst asked Mehdi, "Are there assets that Yahoo would bring to the table that would be helpful?" The answer: Yes, Yahoo has a great business. "But no, I think from where we are today, we think we have all of the pieces," Mehdi said.
The $6 billion piece is the recent aQuantive acquisition. But Mehdi also said there are "other small pieces that we're in the process of getting to." That would seem to make clear that Microsoft is neither done ratcheting up the advertising side nor is it happy with its less than satisfactory showing to date.


Longtime sportswriter Rick Reilly has written a new book about how President Donald Trump cheats at golf. The author will be in Tempe, Arizona.
Rick Reilly is ticked off, and who can blame him?
If you want proof, look no further than “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump,” Reilly’s relentless takedown of how President Donald Trump cheats at golf, and what that reveals.
The book is not a left-wing political attack on Trump — Reilly, long one of the most-famous and most-decorated sports columnists in the country, wasn’t interested in writing that kind of book, not explicitly.
Thus, it’s a golfer’s attack on Trump, or at least on the way Trump plays the game, a game Reilly reveres as revealing of character. And he doesn’t like what he sees in Trump. He chronicles incident after incident, like Trump throwing sportscaster Mike Tirico’s ball from the fairway into a bunker.
To hear him tell it, Reilly didn’t really want to write this book. He was happily retired in Italy, writing scripts and novels and basically chilling out.
Then he started reading President Donald Trump’s tweets.
Reilly had met Trump a few times. He played golf with him for a chapter in his book, “Who’s Your Caddy?: Looping for the Great, Near Great, and Reprobates of Golf.” Of course Trump’s boasts, exaggerations and outright lies got Reilly’s attention.
But it was the golf stuff that Reilly couldn’t stomach.
Specifically, Trump’s claim that he had won 18 club championships. Reilly exhaustively investigates this and doesn’t find evidence that Trump has actually won any (with the exception of playing his new courses first, then claiming that makes him the first club champ).
As any good writer would, Reilly uses golf to reveal larger truths. Or, in this case, lies.
The thing is, Trump isn’t a bad golfer. That makes Reilly all the madder.
But he’s not planning to be mad forever. Writing the book didn’t make him want to come out of sportswriting retirement.
“No, no, I’m going back to Italy,” he said. “I’m going back to my paddle board, my piano and all the books I was reading, and meditation. I mean, this totally screwed up my meditation. I’m just angry all the time now and I was getting so peaceful.
When: 7 p.m. Friday, April 12.
Where: Changing Hands Tempe, 6428 S. McClintock Drive.


Paris Saint-Germain fans were no doubt brimming with confidence about facing Manchester United when the Champions League draw was made nearly two months ago.
Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe were scoring with ease, Marco Verratti was pulling the strings in midfield, and the club had secured impressive back-to-back wins against Liverpool and Red Star Belgrade to qualify for the last 16 at Napoli’s expense.
United was struggling under then-coach Jose Mourinho, and creative players like Paul Pogba were not suited to his gritty and tactically stifling approach.
Now the tables have been turned, and injury-hit PSG’s trip to Old Trafford has taken on a daunting dimension. United is unbeaten since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge and Pogba, so unhappy under Mourinho, can’t stop smiling.
Pogba got one of France’s goals in the World Cup final win against Croatia last year , and always had an eye for goal when playing for Juventus.
He netted twice in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Fulham and has 11 league goals so far.
While Saturday afternoon was good for United, Saturday evening proved to be awful for PSG .
In a matter of hours, the complexion of Tuesday’s game changed even further.
Already missing Neymar because of a right foot injury , the French champion lost two more players.
Cavani, PSG’s all-time leading scorer, damaged a tendon in his right hip in the 1-0 win against Bordeaux, and goal-scoring right-back Thomas Meunier sustained a mild concussion. These injuries follow on from midfielder Marco Verratti’s sprained ankle three weeks ago.
Facing a pumped-up and revitalized United lineup at Old Trafford would have been difficult enough with everyone fit, but PSG coach Thomas Tuchel has problems in every position except goalkeeper. There, at least, he has the reassuring presence of Italy great Gianluigi Buffon .
But Tuchel is missing two of his best three forwards, and he isn’t even sure if Verratti will be ready for a game of such intensity having played only 58 minutes against Bordeaux on his return from injury.
Circumstances and choices, not just injuries, have made for an increasingly difficult situation at PSG.
The problems in midfield, for example, could have been resolved far earlier by bringing Adrien Rabiot back into the side.
But Tuchel has been told that Rabiot — who is in a disagreement with sporting director Antero Henrique — is not to be selected because of a contract wrangle that has dragged on .
With Neymar and Cavani out it means that Mbappe, the French league’s 17-goal top scorer, is certain to start at centre forward.
While United’s shaky defence will fear facing another of France’s World Cup stars , they may be less worried about his strike partner. If Tuchel goes with a 4-4-2 formation that is likely going to include the ineffective Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting.
He has scored only once in 12 league matches since joining from unheralded English side Stoke and did not stand out against a mediocre Bordeaux team. In one second-half moment, he even passed to an opponent.
Tuchel could be tempted to innovate by using Julian Draxler in a 4-5-1, with the Germany winger effectively operating as a playmaker behind Mbappe. But Draxler’s versatility suits Tuchel elsewhere and he could be chosen in central midfield, especially if Verratti does not start.
United’s attack is brimming with confidence.
PSG’s defence must cope with speed, skill and power when facing internationals Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku.
Stopping the midfield supply line to them, or to Chile star Alexis Sanchez if he is selected, is vital. Tuchel, therefore, needs strong holding midfielders against Pogba, Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic — an impressive trio blending strength, tenacity and technique.
It might mean moving defender Marquinhos into the centre of midfield, alongside Verratti, Draxler or the recently-signed Leandro Paredes.
Yet picking Marquinhos would deprive PSG of its best and most consistent centre half. Tuchel may have no choice, especially considering Paredes has played only three games for the club — two as substitute — since joining from Zenit St. Petersburg.
It’s all potentially confusing for Tuchel.
But while Tuchel has mitigating circumstances, he was hired to reach at least the semifinals of the competition, after Unai Emery and Laurent Blanc were fired for their perceived failures in Europe.


It’s already been a busy year for the Female Founders Alliance.
The Seattle-based organization continues to march toward its mission of helping women entrepreneurs land funding and it’s getting support from key partners to do so.
FFA investors Dennis Joyce and Sarah Imbach.
FFA today announced a new partnership with WeWork Labs, the startup incubator concept from WeWork that opened in Seattle last month. FFA will house the second cohort of its accelerator, Ready Set Raise, at the incubator this summer. It will also host events at WeWork Labs locations across the country; provide its members one free month of coworking at any WeWork office; and offer benefits to WeWork members.
FFA also just raised investment from a group of backers that includes Seattle-area angel investors such as Sarah Imbach and Dennis Joyce.
“They are investing in FFA’s potential for system-wide impact, out of a belief that FFA needs to exist and that when female founders thrive, the whole economy will benefit,” Leslie Feinzaig, founder and CEO of FFA, told GeekWire.
Feinzaig declined to comment on the size of FFA’s investment. A SEC filing posted last month shows $200,000 was raised.
FFA is a social purpose corporation, a type of profit corporation the state of Washington created in 2012. It is funded primarily through partners such as Seattle Bank, Bank of America, Project W, UPS, and the Washington Technology Industry Association.
The organization recently formed an advisory board and appointed PayScale executive Lydia Frank as its founding member. It also added two members to its leadership team: Samantha Agee, vice president of business alliances, and Rohre Titcomb, director of operations.
Feinzaig launched FFA less than two years ago. It started as a private Facebook group of women who wanted to help support female founders and entrepreneurs.


To commemorate the 25th Annual Midland Community Center's Dow RunWalk, organizers are looking for 25 teams to take the 2010 RunWalk Challenge.
The RunWalk Challenge is an opportunity for co-workers, friends, civic organizations, families, youth groups, churches, and more to get a team together and participate or volunteer in the 25th Annual Midland Community Center's Dow RunWalk.
Teams must have a minimum of six participants and will compete in the following categories; under 20 participants, 20-49 participants, or 50+ participants. The 2010 RunWalk Challenge Champions will be announced on Tuesday, June 8. This is the fourth year that the Midland Community Center has hosted the RunWalk Challenge.
Start organizing your group and start training today. Develop a team name and take a team photo (creativity counts). Register for the RunWalk (all challenge participants must submit their registrations together as a team by May 21) in either the 10K, 5K Run, 5K Walk, 1 Mile Run or as a volunteer.
Participate! Ways to do this include, running or walking, volunteering race day, volunteering prior to the RunWalk during bag stuffing or packet pick-up, or creating team spirit through shirts, banners, hats, signs, cheer, etc. The goal is to have a lot of fun. RunWalk Challenge Champions will receive a recognition award and prizes.
For more information regarding theRunWalk Challenge, please contact the community center at 832-7937 x2221 or visit http://dowrunwalk.mymcc.org for details and a registration form.


VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. nuclear agency says its experts have again failed to dent Iran’s refusal to cooperate in probing allegations that Tehran covertly worked on an atomic arms program.
An International Atomic Energy Agency statement says Iran refused an IAEA request for access to a site where the agency suspects explosives testing related to a nuclear weapon took place.
It also says that despite “intensive efforts,” no agreement was reached on how to relaunch the probe, which has been stalled for nearly four years.
The statement was released early Tuesday, after the IAEA team left on a return flight to Vienna. The unusual timing — shortly after midnight in Europe — reflected the urgency the IAEA attached to the communique.
Iran denies any interest in possessing nuclear weapons.


PUTNAM, Conn. — Putnam got off to a fast start and raced past Wheeler High, 72-46, in an ECC Division IV boys basketball game Tuesday.
Sebastian Ramos led the Clippers (6-4, 3-0 Division IV) with 25 points.
"We could not guard him," Wheeler coach Neal Cobleigh said.
Putnam led 22-6 after one quarter and 49-21 at halftime.
Scott Pion led Wheeler (3-6, 0-4) with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and five rebounds. Bowen Baker and Ian Spracklin each added nine points.
Wheeler next plays at Stonington on Thursday at 7 p.m.


Cinderella’s home eventually fell into disrepair; the property was sold years later and redeveloped.
“I just thought it was so ironic that there was this forum at a place where we had [built] a [dog] fence and that house was torn down,” Arrington said.
But more on Cinderella in a moment.
On Sunday, hundreds of dog lovers gathered in Durham Central Park for Barktoberfest. The event, held by Durham Parks and Recreation and Beyond Fences, raised about $10,000 for Beyond Fences, which helps low-income pet owners in Durham.
The group has built over 1,000 fences for dogs in the past decade and has since expanded its focus. It keeps in touch after building a fence or paying for a spay/neuter surgery, sometimes coming back with fresh straw for an outdoor dog house or taking a pet in for shots because the family doesn’t have a car.
Lately, it’s been getting more calls from clients losing their homes – and afraid of losing their pets.
“It was every single day,” she said.
There is little research on the displacement of pets due to gentrification.
In 2015, an ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) study examined the “re-homing” of cats and dogs in the United States.
The study, published in the peer-reviewed Open Journal of Animal Sciences, estimated 1 million households re-home, or surrender, their pets every year. About one-third give their pet to a friend or family member, one-third give their pet to a shelter, and the rest give them to a vet, a stranger or set them loose.
The most common reasons cited were the pets themselves (46 percent), family situations (27 percent) and housing issues (18 percent). For respondents who rented instead of owned their home, however, housing issues were the No. 1 reason for giving up a pet.
Anecdotally some animal shelters have reported upticks on animals being surrendered by people who have to move when property is sold or redeveloped.
The Animal Protection Society of Durham has seen an overall decrease in cat and dogs coming into the East Club Boulevard shelter as its spay/neuter and education programs help reduce unwanted animals in the county.
From October 2016 through September 2017, the shelter took in 4,736 animals. That included 1,319 animals surrendered at the front desk or to an animal control officer in the field.
“I would say the number one response (given at the desk) is that there’s nothing wrong with the animal, it’s because they have nowhere for that animal to go,” executive director Shafonda Davis said.
Displacement has always been a factor in people giving up their pets, Davis said.
One type of displacement cited for surrenders – evictions – was higher a few years ago during the recession. There were 136 animals surrendered to the shelter due to eviction in 2008, compared to 63 in 2016, she said.
But Davis said because Beyond Fences works mostly in East Durham and other areas affected by rising housing costs, it makese sense that they are getting more calls.
“Their clientele is in the areas [where people] are being displaced by gentrification, so they’re seeing it more,” she said.
In order to afford a two-bedroom apartment, a family needs to earn $31,778 a year, according to Stronger Together, a partnership of the N.C. Housing Coalition and the N.C. Community Development Initiative and Initiative Capital.
That’s out of reach for many in Durham County, where the coalition estimates 45 percent of renters and 22 percent of homeowners – just over 39,000 households total – pay more than that.
Arrington works full time as the director of Pets for Life, a program of the Humane Society of the United States modeled on the volunteer-driven Beyond Fences.
Beyond Fences has tried many things to help people keep their pets, she said.
They’ve talked with landlords. They have arranged discounts at kennels “until just financially it became impossible for us.” They have built temporary fences at relatives’ houses.
In some cases, when the family has no transportation, they have taken the dog to the shelter.
Arrington thinks all people should be able to have pets, even if they may have difficulty paying for them.
“That shouldn’t depend on ZIP codes or where you come from,” she said.
The family that had to give up Cinderella has struggled to regain its footing, Arrington continued.
And for a while, the German shepherd mix did too.
Her stoic, “old soul” demeanor didn’t connect with those passing her cage at the shelter. Two months passed.
And then a new family adopted her.
They brought her to Barktoberfest on Sunday.
Her new name is Bella.


Pope Francis has received a lot of attention since becoming the head of the Catholic Church earlier this year. Many know him as possibly the most progressive Pope the Church has ever had, and he tries to live his life modestly. So many people love him for a number of reasons, including many non-Catholics, but he does have some critics.
Pat Buchanan, well-known conservative political commentator and author, is one of those critics. In a recent syndicated column, Buchanan had a lot to say about the Pope’s more progressive views on the church and the issues it faces.
Buchanan essentially says that by not speaking out against homosexuality, abortion, and other hot button social issues, Pope Francis isn’t doing his job as leader of the Catholic Church.
Buchanan also blasts the Pope for his stance against actively trying to convert new Christians. Pope Francis recently said that proselytizing is “solemn nonsense” and that Christians need to listen more to others rather than lecture them. Buchanan doesn’t like this perspective and claims that proselytizing must happen in order to keep Christianity alive.
While Buchanan’s claims cannot be proven using any facts whatsoever, it’s clear that he feels Pope Francis is adding to the perceived downfall of Christianity. Still, many see the Pope as an honest, loving man who tries to live his life as Jesus would instead of getting caught up in the political side of leading the Catholic Church.


The Baron Son was written as the ethical road map to wealth, power, and success. It is the story of a young boy who loses everything and through struggle finds the secret to become the richest, most powerful person the world has ever known. The reader learns alongside three scholars as the Baron recounts his story of detriment and triumph while conveying â€œSupreme Principlesâ€? that will guide one and all in their journey to success.
BSN: Mr. William R. Patterson, I just had the opportunity to read your book The Baron Son, and I really enjoyed it.Â How did you choose the title of the book and what does it mean?
William: Thank you. Well, the story is about a son who feels compelled to live out his slain fatherâ€™s vision to empower the people of the world with the keys to financial success. In doing so, he becomes the wealthiest of men. When heard, the title imparts a play on words, as the young man happens upon seemingly desolate, barren conditions, and rises to become a trade baron of unmatched influence. The subtitle, Vade MecumÂ®, means something useful that one constantly carries about, such as a guidebook for ready reference. Literally translated from Latin, it means â€œgo with me.â€? And that is what the book was intended to be, something that you could always take with you and rely on to provide insight on various financial and business situations.
BSN: Can you tell us a little about the book and why anyone looking to go into business should read this book?
William: The Baron Son was written as the ethical road map to wealth, power, and success. It is the story of a young boy who loses everything and through struggle finds the secret to become the richest, most powerful person the world has ever known. The reader learns alongside three scholars as the Baron recounts his story of detriment and triumph while conveying â€œSupreme Principlesâ€? that will guide one and all in their journey to success. Each chapter of the book details how some of the most prominent individuals are able to ethically establish and maintain their positions. It is an important work because it puts the main character in the position of many readers who are forced to find a way to change the condition of their lives when they have absolutely nothing â€“ no money, no resources, and no idea of where to start. It answers the fundamental question of how money and human nature really work.
BSN: William, I have not read such an interesting business book in many years since the Richest Man in Babylon.Â Did you know your book would become a classic that would be cherished for many years to come?
BSN:Â William, is it a central theme of the book that we have to go through life experiences to learn how to secure wealth and manage our resources?
BSN:Â William, at what age did you get your first exposure to the business world?
William: I often tell the story about when I was eight years old: I asked my father for an allowance. He refused. Instead, he gave me the idea to purchase candy in bulk from a nearby wholesaler and undercut the prices charged to the neighborhood kids by the local corner store. The profit I generated confirmed that I could create value for my peers by delivering the same, and in some cases a superior product, at a lower price. This was my first real taste of business.
BSN:Â William could you please share with our reading audience individuals on the current business scene who would fit the profile of The Baron Son and why they would fit that profile?
William:Â One great example is media mogul, Bob Johnson, who also endorsed the book. He is Founder of Black Entertainment Television and the first African-American billionaire. Additionally, he was the first African-American majority owner of a major professional sports franchise. Bob Johnsonâ€™s vision represents one of the key concepts in the book, the â€œSupreme Principleâ€? called â€œThe Seedlings of Empires.â€? This principle illustrates how success is built around one creating value for others by serving a particular â€œneedâ€? in the marketplace, and by having the foresight to recognize exceptional ideas that have the potential to blossom into greatness and the courage to act on those ideas. While many television networks were competing unsuccessfully for the same market, Bob Johnson created a niche network that served a demographic that had largely gone ignored by mainstream media. In the process, his success, both directly and indirectly, helped generate billions of dollars for companies and individuals, and pressured several industries to transform their marketing strategies and the way they do business. True Barons not only create wealth for themselves and others, but also leave a lasting impact on their industries. Bob Johnson was able to do just that.
BSN: William, one principle covered in the book is the â€œSupreme Principle: Requital.â€? Could you elaborate on that principle and why it is so important?
William: With all of the recent corporate and political scandals, that is one principle that has particularly resonated with the business community. It brings home the importance of ethical leadership and the idea that at some point each individual will be confronted with the consequences of his or her actions, be they good or bad. As we look at the recent improprieties from companies such as WorldCom and Enron which have been estimated to have cost the American economy over $35 billion dollars and created a crisis of confidence in the investing community, itâ€™s clear that in the long run itâ€™s more profitable to embrace ethical business principles, such as those outlined in The Baron Son, than to take the short-term path of ill gotten gains.
BSN:Â William, you have two Co-Authors. What are their names, and what did they contribute to the book?
William: Yes, Vicky Therese Davis and D. Marques Patton. Vicky and I are former classmates and have done quite a bit of work together on the professional lecture circuit. Vicky brought a unique female perspective to the book and the concept development of the larger series. I think Vicky is absolutely brilliant. Sheâ€™s one of the smartest people I know. Marques has led a life of entrepreneurship. Before the age of ten he had a business selling toys on his school bus. Marques brought hard-won lessons taught in real life business and personal scenarios. Marques understands how to succeed when you only have the shirt on your back, because at one point he had to.Â Together weâ€™ve worked on a number of writing and training projects throughout the U.S. and abroad, helping children and adults to develop entrepreneurial and investing skills, which became the inspiration for The Baron Son.
BSN:Â William, what is the background of the Co-Authors?
William:Â Both Vicky and Marques have backgrounds in finance. Vicky worked briefly in the financial arena and later founded Indulgence Jewelry Corp. where she serves as Chief Executive Officer. She also has business interests abroad. Marques is a retired Options Principal.
He negotiated a strategic alliance with a brokerage firm in Chicagoâ€™s financial district and was responsible for the actions of his brokerage team. Marques and I later co-founded The Warcoffer Capital Group, LLC, where he now serves as President and Chief Operating Officer.
BSN:Â Â William, there are offshoots of the book The Baron Son. Could you tell us some of the new directions which were created by publishing this book?
William: We have a complimentary adult workshop series where we tackle topics such as â€œHow to Succeed When You Are in Massive Debt,â€? â€œStrategies for Sound Money Management and Investing,â€? and â€œBuilding Wealth by Starting Your Own Business.â€? Weâ€™ve also launched a pro bono youth workshop series where we make a special effort to reach out to universities, high schools, and various youth organizations because that is where it starts. A teenager needs to understand simple things like if they invest $25 a month from the time they are 15, they are likely to have over $650,000 by the time they retire. Weâ€™re now in the process of completing the next installment in our series which will be geared toward women. Additionally, weâ€™d love to do some collaborative works like TBS Meets the One Minute Manager; TBS Meets the Fool, Rich Dad, Machiavelli, etcetera.
BSN: William, I forgot to ask where the book can be purchased.
BSN:Â Â I could not put down the book once I started to read it! William, what makes the book so interesting?
William: We wrote the book with a layered approach, so that each principle would be relevant to the reader regardless of oneâ€™s perspective. So, no matter if he or she were an established business leader, aspiring entrepreneur, seasoned investor, or merely a casual reader looking for an inspiring story, readers would be able to take something away, not just from each â€œSupreme Principle,â€? but each page of the book. While each â€œSupreme Principleâ€? holds its own relevance and power, it is really the synergy of implementing them all at once that allows an individual or group to maximize their efforts and achieve their desired level of success.
BSN:Â I would like to thank Mr. William Patterson Author of The Baron Son for sharing information about a great book that has timeless principles and will impact many generations.
William: Thank you for the opportunity to share our message with your readers. Itâ€™s been truly a pleasure, and I look forward to our next interview. Until then, I wish you and yours continued success!


Amnesty International today issued a series of recommendations to newly elected Honduran President Porfirio Lobo to repair the damage done to human rights since the June 2009 coup d’état, which left hundreds seeking justice.
The 13 recommendations include issues relating to investigations into the human rights abuses committed by security forces, rejecting amnesty laws for those responsible for the crimes, training judges on international human rights legislation and setting up an effective witness protection programme.
“Honduras’ devastating coup d’état has left the country in urgent need of a programme of human rights reconstruction with clear objectives and a timeline for completion.
Amnesty International’s report also summarises 20 cases which include police killings, arbitrary detentions, beatings and ill-treatment in detention, sexual abuse of Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights and girls, harassment of journalists, judges and activists.
No-one has been held to account for these abuses and few investigations have been opened.
On 1 August, 38-year-old teacher Roger Abraham Vallejo died in hospital as a result of injuries sustained from a bullet wound to the head, caused by a rubber bullet reportedly fired by police during the break up of a protest in Tegucigalpa in July. An investigation into the killing is open but no advances have been reported.
On 23 September, 16-year-old Gerson Ariel Cruz was seriously wounded by police following the break up of a protest in Tegucigalpa. According to an eyewitness, the police chased protesters into a residential neighbourhood where they opened fire with live ammunition. Gerson, who had taken no part in the protest, was shot in the stomach. When family members tried to take him to hospital they were turned back from a police roadblock, substantially delaying their journey to seek emergency treatment. Gerson survived but sustained serious injuries from which he has still not fully recovered. The shooting was reported to the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights and an investigation is on-going.
“There are dozens of cases of killings, beatings, sexual harassment and other abuses by the security forces against members of the opposition movement and those seen as critical of the coup d’état which need to be urgently investigated.
“Hondurans will expect President Lobo to provide answers and a resolution to the hundreds of human rights abuses committed by the security forces since 28 June 2009."
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo took office on 27 January. He was elected in November last year amidst a political crisis that saw President Manuel Zelaya ousted by military-backed right wing politicians in June.
A copy of the report Recommendations to the new Honduran government following the June 2009 coup d’état is available from the Amnesty International UK media unit.


Some, but not all, technology employees at the Agriculture Department's Forest Service have dodged a bullet. They received final notice that management had chosen their reorganization plan over a commercial outsourcing proposal submitted under an Office of Management and the Budget Circular A-76 competition.
Spokeswoman Heidi Valetkevich said the employee group would implement a $295 million project over five years and that their plan would generate about $100 million in savings over the period.
The project will cover about 2,500 employees, many of whom have other duties in addition to IT services, Valetkevich said. The work involved now is equal to the tasks of about 830 employees, but efficiencies generated by the employee-designed reorganization plan will reduce the number of full-time equivalent employees to 650.
As a result, about 180 Forest Service employees will be displaced by the reorganization. Valetkevich said those employees would receive career counseling and possibly get other jobs in the agency or qualify for early buyouts.
Employees covered by the competition maintain the infrastructure of IT operations and operate radio communication systems. They are located in 43 states, Valetkevich said. Part of the reorganization will involve consolidating some IT operations across the 155 national forests.


Broadband and telecoms provider Digiweb has expanded its offering with a new managed services portfolio for Irish businesses that aims to position Digiweb as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all IT and business communications.
The new ‘in the cloud’ service includes targets SMEs and start-ups, and offers managed connectivity and security as well as managed voice, data and IT services.
A team of 20 service engineers with a wide range of business communications and hosting expertise will be on hand 24/7 to deliver these services within both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (from Digiweb’s NOC in Dublin).
Digiweb said that it expects to sign up to 1,000 new business customers in first 12 months of the launch as this package is a realistic offering that can effectively give a start-up or small business a ‘ready-to-go’ virtualised office but the service itself is aimed at all sizes of companies including the larger enterprise customer.
Prior to launch Digiweb’s managed services portfolio had a series of pilots with enterprise customers as well as SMEs and start-ups.
Currently 15pc of Irish internet websites and email accounts are already hosted by Digiweb.
Alan Millett, CTO of Digiweb, said: "This is the next logical step in Digiweb’s evolution into a managed IT services provider. Providing internet connectivity and data networks was a natural place for us to start but businesses today are now seeking much more from their technology providers.
"We have made a significant investment in our premises, people and network to ensure Irish businesses have a national provider that can proactively manage all of their IT and communications requirements."
Meanwhile Dan King, hosting and managed services manager with Digiweb, said that the new all-in-one ‘in the cloud’ offering chimes with the current economic reality: "During tough economic conditions, businesses throughout Ireland are trying to do more with less.
"We can help our customers save valuable time and money by managing some or all of their IT needs while they concentrate on running their core business," he added.


President Trump’s executive order rolling back President Barack Obama’s signature anti-global-warming measure stopped short of withdrawing from the historic Paris climate accord — but raised international concerns Tuesday about whether the United States will do its share to fight the global threat.
Europe’s top climate official, European commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, expressed “regret” about Trump’s executive order rolling back what he called the “main pillar” of U.S. climate policy, the Clean Power Plan, in a statement to The Washington Post.
“Now, it remains to be seen by which other means the United States intends to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement,” said Cañete.
The words of Cañete, one of the most prominent global diplomatic figures yet to comment on Trump’s move, signal how the president’s executive order eviscerating Obama’s climate plan is raising international concerns, and they further suggest that the country could be left isolated as other nations push forward to curb emissions.
Trump’s executive order stopped short of withdrawing from the Paris climate accord — which Trump had vowed to “cancel” during the campaign — but it’s far from clear how the United States will now be able to meet its commitments under the 2015 agreement, in which more than 195 governments pledged to take action to hold the planet’s warming “well below” a danger zone of 2 degrees Celsius.
Those concerns about U.S. climate commitments under a Trump presidency could come up in May when diplomats gather for a working group meeting on the Paris climate agreement.
“We will have to wait to see how the Trump administration explains its actions to other countries when they meet in Bonn, Germany, in May,” said Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
However, according to the terms of the Paris agreement, the United States will not be called to account for its emissions reductions commitments until 2023, Ward said.
The Paris agreement depended on individual commitments from each country to reduce emissions. The Clean Power Plan, which Trump’s order seeks to rescind, was a core part of the U.S. commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent to 28 percent below their 2005 levels by 2025.
Under that plan, the United States pledged to cut 28 percent to 29 percent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector by 2025 — one of the main sources of these emissions.
Already, allies and nations that have been pushing for — or taking — strong action on climate change are concerned.
“The reality is that the Paris Agreement’s commitments alone do not go far enough to limit warming,” said Thoriq Ibrahim, energy and environment minister for the Maldives and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, a key player in international climate negotiations, in a statement to The Post.
Jiang Kejun, a researcher at the Chinese government think tank Energy Research Institute, said that Trump’s decision to scrap the Clean Power Plan would be “a bad signal” and that Beijing was watching closely.
“It’s … rather negative news,” Jiang said, but insisting that it’s not necessarily impacting China in a negative way. “China’s general policy will not retreat. In fact, it might have to do more and reach out to more partners elsewhere,” such as the European Union and Japan.
The Obama administration also heavily courted another major player, India — which is projected to see the largest growth in energy demand in coming years — seeking climate change collaboration. It’s unclear how the Trump administration’s rollback could affect that country’s outlook.
Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator, seemed to suggest on Sunday that there was no contradiction between the U.S. backing away from the Clean Power Plan and remaining in the Paris agreement.
However, while emissions in the United States could continue to decline because of market forces and coal-to-gas switching, and a growth in renewable sources of electricity, it is hardly assured that will continue.
Without regulations in place — or with weaker ones — the United States could conceivably switch back to burning more coal if natural gas prices rise enough. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is already predicting a slight uptick in coal burning in 2017, due to higher natural gas prices.
Overall, estimates vary on where the United States will be in 2025 or 2030 without the Clean Power Plan. One study by the Rhodium Group found that the Trump executive order would mean that the United States would see its emissions decline only 14 percent below their 2005 levels by 2025, as opposed to a 21 percent drop without the order.
Another recent report from the Carbon Tax Center found that by the end of 2016, “the U.S. electricity sector will have reduced its emissions of carbon dioxide by 27 percent since 2005, thus achieving more than four-fifths of the 2030 carbon-reduction goal set by the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan.” In other words, emissions are falling fast, even without the plan yet in place.
Observers of climate politics don’t think the United States’ backsliding on carbon cuts will necessarily derail the overall Paris process — even though U.S. diplomacy was critical to reaching an agreement.
Others thought Trump’s executive order would be seen as a sign that the United States is retreating from global climate leadership.
The Trump executive order could encourage other countries to backslide on their commitments — such as Brazil, another major global emitter, mainly because of deforestation. Brazil’s deforestation rates have been rising again, due to an apparent inability to enforce prohibitions on chopping down or burning large swaths of the vast Amazon rainforest.
Another consequence of the decision for the United States, Waskow said, would likely be a loss of influence as climate change becomes more and more central to negotiations between countries. “I think what will happen is that over time, countries will continue pressing forward, in venues like the G7 and the G20, and the United States will become more and more isolated if it doesn’t get on board,” he said.
— Simon Denyer and Luna Lin contributed to this report.


Salesforce has unveiled Einstein, a platform upgrade that adds artificial intelligence and machine-learning capabilities to its core products — just two hours before Oracle's big annual OpenWorld event is set to kick off.
As Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff previously hinted, Einstein is an AI wrapper around Salesforce's existing products that collects and analyzes all the data stored in Salesforce to push out recommendations, so the user can close deals faster or build a larger group of leads.
For example, sales representatives using Sales Cloud will get a list of leads on the side based on "Lead Score," a number representing who's more likely to buy your product. It also gives suggestions on when to make a follow-up call or alerts when a contact has been unresponsive for a long time.
"The great thing about machine learning is you can actually measure it," Salesforce's general manager of Einstein, John Ball, said at a press briefing held last week. "This is about democratizing AI. It's all about making the user smarter."
To build Einstein, Salesforce spent about $650 million acquiring dozens of startups in the artificial intelligence and machine-learning space over the past two years. That has helped the company quietly put together an army of 175 data scientists, and on Sunday it unveiled the launch of a new research lab called Salesforce Research as well.
An image of Sales Cloud Einstein.
Einstein fundamentally changes the Salesforce user experience. It will be available across all seven of Salesforce's products, mostly at an additional charge, and app developers will also be able to build apps using some of Einstein's AI capabilities.
Perhaps that explains why Salesforce decided to unveil Einstein on Sunday, just two hours before Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison is scheduled to do a keynote at OpenWorld, zapping some of the excitement around Oracle's big annual event. Salesforce has typically rolled out its new products closer to its own annual conference, Dreamforce, which is taking place in early October this year.
Though Salesforce is the clear leader in the cloud business software space, Oracle has been doubling down on growing its cloud business lately. In its earnings last week, Oracle's cloud revenue exceeded expectations, as the company raised its guidance as well. It'll be interesting to see what new AI features Oracle rolls out at OpenWorld as the company's also been touting its own AI capabilities lately.
Benioff says he's not taking Oracle's cloud efforts too seriously, telling Business Insider that Oracle is still "scrambling" to grow its cloud business.
Ellison, meanwhile, took a direct shot at Salesforce in June, saying Oracle could become the first cloud company to get to $10 billion in annual revenue, a goal Benioff has made public many years ago.


Russell Westbrook was long gone before the final horn sounded on Tuesday night.
So was one of the longest running basketball debates in this city.
Both were chased off by Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
The Thunder’s All-Star guard fled the bench with 10 seconds left on the game clock, ducked out through the tunnel, and took a hard left turn, seemingly toward Oklahoma City.
Portland whipped the Thunder, 114-94.
The Blazers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0. By the time Moda Center public-address announcer Mark Mason cried out with his customary, “BLAZERS WIN! BLAAAAZZERS WIN!” Westbrook was already more than 50 yards from the wreckage.
Have Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum out-played Westbrook and Paul George in this series?
The Blazer guards provided indisputable evidence in a 72-hour stretch of basketball that feels as important as anything that’s happened around here in some time.
Count me among those who has long believed the best chance Portland had to improve its roster was break up Lillard and McCollum. They’re undersized as a tandem. There’s some duplication in their games. I’ve never been sold on their collective ability to defend other high-level NBA backcourts.
But man, they shot that theory full of holes in Game 2, didn’t they?
Lillard and McCollum have been the best two players on the court in this series. They were aggressive in Game 2, wore out the nets, and have not only frustrated Westbrook and George, but made me wonder if OKC will win another game this season.
Lillard scored 29 on Tuesday -- step-back threes, long threes, mid-range twos, drives, floaters -- everything went in. Everything. After making a 31-foot dagger mid-way through third quarter, the Blazers guard flapped his wings like a bird as he headed toward the bench.
All McCollum did was score 33 points on 22 shots. And the collective effort of Lillard and McCollum not only buried Oklahoma City, it has backed Westbrook’s team toward a warm corner of playoff hell in front of Friday’s Game 3.
Blazers coach Terry Stotts was asked after the game about the long-ranging Lillard-McCollum divorce debate. Should the Portland backcourt be split up? Should one of the offensive-minded guards traded away? If so, which one?
I’ve weighed that debate often, coach. So have some of the franchise’s die-hard fans. After a couple of postseason sweeps, absolutely, that became a thing. It still might be if you don’t win this series.
We wondered if trading McCollum for a dynamic front-court player would better balance the roster. We wondered if there might be a more suitable complementary player to Lillard available. We wondered if the Portland duo would ever win a playoff game again together, for crying out loud.
Oklahoma City hasn’t been able to match them.
Lillard and McCollum are outplaying their Thunder counterparts through two games. They haven’t officially ended what amounts to a long-running basketball debate in this city, but they’re not-so-quietly moving in that direction.
This playoff series has been a stark contrast to a year ago, when New Orleans guards Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday suffocated the Blazers backcourt.
The Thunder were supposed to be the aggressors in this series, remember?
They’re playing at full strength. They have not one, but two All-Star players. They also have center Steven Adams, who stomps around on the basketball court, building fires, and swinging a battle axe like he’s auditioning for a role in Game of Thrones.
George was a no-show in Game 1. And Westbrook played his worst game of the season against the Blazers in Game 2, scoring only 14 points. Meanwhile, Adams’ most noticeable on-court act on Tuesday was jawing with Lillard.
If this pattern repeats just twice more against the Thunder, Portland is going to find itself in the second round.
Said Westbrook: “Tonight, we lost, and I’m going to take full responsibility for that because the way I played was unacceptable and I’m going to be better.
The Thunder swept the four-game regular-season series with Portland. But Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan explained after the loss that one of the regular season games went to overtime, and another was decided on a final possession.
But that just sounds like a serious case of denial when cast against Tuesday’s back-alley whipping.
No, something isn’t right with the Thunder -- Westbrook and George. And something is very much right with the Blazers -- Lillard and McCollum.
The 20-point margin of defeat was Oklahoma City’s second-worst loss of the season. On March 16, Golden State beat the Thunder by 22.
A lot is going to be made about Oklahoma City’s inability to make three-point shots in the last few days. As if they’re losing a game of H-O-R-S-E. But let’s address the very real possibility that the Blazers aren’t just better shot-makers so far, but also that they’re doing some things to disrupt the Thunder.
Lillard in particular, as he had three of Portland’s nine steals.
The Thunder were 5 of 33 from behind the arc on Sunday. They followed that with a 5 for 28 effort in Game 2.
Don’t dismiss that like it’s some kind of happenstance.
In 82 regular-season games Oklahoma City never shot below 21.2 percent from three. It never happened. All season. In any game. But in successive playoff games, playing against Portland’s “undersized, no-defense, Blazers backcourt" the Thunder shot 15.1 percent, and then, 17.9 percent from behind the arc.
“We have to keep shooting,” George said. “We’re going to make shots. Keep shooting. We miss shots, so what? Keep shooting."
That’s the plan. Will it work? We’ll see.
But this series now heads to Oklahoma City with the Blazers slapping backs, and feeling so much better about who they are. Blazers fans are right there with them. And this happened because Lillard and McCollum have outclassed their star counterparts so far in this series.
So many questions still. Most of them, for the Thunder now. But Lillard was asked how it felt to be up two-zip after the playoff face-plants of the last couple of postseasons.


Or perhaps you’ve been uneasy yourself about the way your child has been interacting with another child. You know that some teasing is normal for kids, but something about this seems more than that. And then suddenly it’s clear: something is going on.
Whatever raises the red flag, your first response sets the tone for what’s to follow. And just as with a paramedic or ER team, the first moves you make and the quality of your response have a critical effect on outcomes. Your reactions can turn a disaster into an extraordinary learning opportunity for your child and all involved, or they can trigger an emotional backdraft—the explosive effect of a sudden whoosh of parental intensity on an already volatile situation. The more dicey the situation, the more critical your responses are to bring about a positive resolution. If it happens to you, the ten tips below are essential.


▪ Overall strength of the Main Street program and documented success in creating an exciting place to live, work, play and visit.
▪ Demonstrated impact aligning with the Main Street Approach.
▪ Commitment to historic preservation.
▪ Active involvement of the public and private sector.
▪ Model partnerships, including inclusive engagement of community members and local stakeholders in the downtown revitalization process.
“They are looking at what you have done to revitalize your downtown,” Bishop said.
In the last two years, major changes are taking place. Columbus State University is in the final stages of construction of the College of Education and Health Science complex at Broadway and 12th Street. This has spurred retail, commercial and residential growth and plans in the 1000 block of Broadway. The Chattahoochee whitewater course is in full operation, and a zip line across the river has been added.
The most recent winners of the Great American Main Street Award were Audubon Park, Orlando, Fla.; Dahlonega, Ga.; and Shaw District, Washington, D.C.
The winners should be announced by the end of the year. Only three of the 10 semifinalists have been announced: Uptown Columbus, Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard Main Street in New Orleans and Czech Village/New Bohemia Main Street District in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.


But analysts at Barclays analysts flagged concerns the wireless operator’s quarterly profit could drop from year-earlier levels. The research house noted that handset subsidies needed to attract smartphone users, estimated by the company at 14 billion yuan ($2.24 billion) in the second half, up from 12 billion yuan in the first half, were likely to drag on the bottom line.
Another problem is dwindling average revenue per user. China Mobile continues to see pressure on revenue growth as many of its medium- and-high-end customers defect to iPhone-supported networks run by China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. and China Telecom Corp. .


The IRA has been giving the Palestinians a few lessons in terrorism, a British explosives expert working in the Jenin refugee camp has told a London newspaper.
He found that booby-trap bombs designed for use against Israeli soldiers were identical in every detail to those he had seen in Northern Ireland. Paul Collinson, a former Royal Engineers bomb-disposal officer, said he discovered more than 200 explosives in the Jenin camp – and was convinced they were either supplied by the IRA or made under their supervision.


In addition to Crum, the Lions signed quarterback Cecil Lester for the playoff run. Lester is a familiar face to longtime Lions fans as he was under center for the Albany Panthers during their championship runs in 2011 and 2012.
“We’ve added a two-time indoor champion quarterback to the roster who will give us a little bit of a security blanket,” Gibson said of Lester. “He’s been doing it for a long time. He gets it, and he can still play at a high level. That gives us two championship level quarterbacks on our roster.
With Crum and Lester joining the roster, the Lions are set to play for back to back championships, albeit in two different leagues.
Their opponent is the enigmatic New Mexico Stars, a team that will have traveled 20 hours by bus to play in Columbus and were part of a tumultuous Western Division in the AIF.
Four division rivals – Texas (Richland Hills), Abilene (Tex.), Louisiana (Baton Rouge), and Northshore (Slidell, La.) – made the league schedule but folded before even playing a game. Another team, the Steel City Raiders out of Pueblo, Colo., folded midseason, giving New Mexico a forfeit victory.
The final Western Division domino fell when Corpus Christi folded earlier last month, giving the Stars yet another forfeit win. The last four games involving New Mexico have been against semipro teams which agreed to play the Stars at the last minute, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
The Stars do have one known quantity, however, in coach John Fourcade, a veteran of the indoor game. Fourcade is no stranger to Columbus, either, having coached the af2’s Columbus Wardogs in their final two seasons in 2003 and 2004.
One of the main differences in the success of the Lions over the past two seasons has been the play between the tackles. Gibson says having strong players in the trenches is key for success.
Despite the second season beginning on Saturday, the Lions will have the same approach as they have had in each of their eight games this season, all of them victories.
“Absolutely not,” Gibson said when asked if the team has a different frame of mind for the playoffs. “They’re excited to play a really good, well-coached team, but I’m not going to steer away from what I said all year long, and that’s we practice against ourselves. Who we go against every day in practice on our 30-man roster are among the best players in this league, from top to bottom. They’ve bought into that. I’ve got guys who aren’t going to dress (Saturday) who could start on any team in this league.


A simple injection has helped a music lover get back to playing the piano again.
David Edmunds had been forced to give up playing and was also starting to have problems with driving after developing a problem that left his hand bent out of shape.
The 80-year-old from Brighton had been told he would need an operation to correct the problem which would mean weeks of recovery.
However medics in East Grinstead used an innovative injection instead and the results have been almost immediate.
Mr Edmunds was suffering from Dupuytren’s Contracture, a common condition in which the cord in the fingers and palm of the hand tighten.
This makes the fingers bend inwards with the patient unable to straighten them.
His left hand became stiff and inflexible but Mr Edmunds was told he would have to wait until the problem got worse before he would be eligible for an NHS operation.
Normally the only option is surgery but the McIndoe Centre in East Grinstead has become one of the first in the country to try the injection instead.
Mr Edmunds had the treatment last month and noticed improvements almost immediately.
Hand surgeon Harry Belcher carried out the procedure.
During surgery, the cord that develops in the hand is removed through an incision.
However the Xiapex injection can dissolve the cord within 24 hours.
Patients are seen the following day for manipulation of their hand to ensure the cord has completely released and the fingers straightened.
Mr Belcher said: “I have been impressed by its efficiency in suitable patients.


SugarCRM, the world's leading provider of commercial open source customer relationship management (CRM) software, today announced three new dates and destinations for its 2009 CRM Acceleration Road Show. MySQL/Sun and Talend will serve as global sponsors.
September 17 – Denver, Colo.
CRM Accelerations are one-day, intensive sessions that help business leaders develop and implement a CRM strategy. These sessions provide attendees with a basic overview of customer relationship management, and progress quickly into real-life demo scenarios, as well as interactive panels with members of the SugarCRM team of experts. CRM Accelerations are geared towards company leaders, both business and technical.
“Getting Started With Sugar” will uncover the basics of customer relationship management, and reveal some key aspects of the Sugar solution.
“Creating Leads and Managing Opportunities” will discuss how to better organize and manage the demand generation cycle and better connect your marketing and sales teams.
“Pipeline Management and Reporting” will provide some examples of common metrics used to measure sales effectiveness and how to create, share and manage sales reports within SugarCRM to ensure individuals and teams are aligned around common goals.
“Avoiding CRM Pitfalls” will reveal best practices, as well as bad habits to avoid, while on your way to a successful CRM deployment.
“Ask the Experts” will offer participants an opportunity to interact with SugarCRM product and deployment experts, who will address general CRM concerns, as well as Sugar-specific questions regarding your CRM initiative.
To register or to learn more about CRM Acceleration events, please visit: www.crmacceleration.com.
SugarCRM is the world’s leading provider of commercial open source customer relationship management (CRM) software for companies of all sizes. SugarCRM easily adapts to any business environment by offering a more flexible, cost-effective alternative than proprietary applications. SugarCRM’s open source architecture allows companies to more easily customize and integrate customer-facing business processes in order to build and maintain more profitable relationships. SugarCRM offers several deployment options, including on-demand, on-site and appliance-based solutions to suit customers’ security, integration and configuration needs.
For more information, call (408) 454-6900 or 1 87 SUGARCRM toll-free in the US, email [email protected], or visit http://www.sugarcrm.com.


The Iowa State women will try to close out the home season with a victory on Thursday when they take on Colorado. It will be the final home game for Cyclone seniors Brittany Wilkins and Kandice Beenken.
I-S-U coach Bill Fennelly says it’ll be emotional and hard to send off people who have done so much for the school. Fennelly says you have to worry about the players getting so emotional that it makes it hard to play. He says they hope to send the seniors out on a winning note, as it’s more fun to win your last game and play well.
The Cyclones are 6-9 in the Big 12 and 15-11 overall.


LUSAKA (Reuters) - Kansai Plascon, owned by Tokyo-listed Kansai Paint Co Ltd, has launched the world’s first mosquito repellant paint in Zambia to help it reach a target to eliminate malaria by 2021, the company and a Japanese government official said.
Malaria, spread by mosquitoes, is a treatable disease if caught early, but current anti-malarial drugs are failing in many areas as people develop resistance to them.
Zambia aims to eradicate malaria, the southern African country’s biggest killer, within three years after deaths from the disease halved last year from 2014, the government said in June.
Hanai Junichi, Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) Zambia resident representative said his agency was carrying out the initiative in partnership with Kansai.
“A study done in the last two years in 400 households with Zambia’s ministry of health proved that the paint is very effective and is not harmful to human beings,” Junichi told Reuters.
While mosquito nets, prophylactics and insecticide spraying are still in use, the disease continues to account for more than one million deaths on the African continent each year, the company said.
The paint technology disrupts the mosquito’s nervous system on contact, reducing its ability to remain on walls where the paint has been applied.
The insect typically alights on vertical structures, which is why inside walls have been a key focus of anti-malarial efforts, such as the spraying of DDTs on them.
“The knock-down effect lasts for up to two years, offering lasting protection from malaria infection and other mosquito-borne diseases,” Kansai said.
The world has made huge strides against malaria since 2000, with death rates plunging by 60 percent and at least six million lives saved globally, WHO says.


The poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge is characterized by the supernatural. The word comes from the Latin super meaning above and naturo meaning nature. The etymology of the word, however, helps us in no way to understand the connotation of the word in literature. Contrasted with the natural, the supernatural is apprehended as opposed to comprehended. In fact a thing is apprehended when we can know its existence without understanding it. The natural, we can know and understand because it is material, physical- but the supernatural is beyond the grasp of the physical senses- it is imaterial, spiritual. The natural acts in accordance with physical laws, and departures from these laws are physically impossible, but they are not absolutely impossible for the natural, being created, depends upon the power and the will of its creator. The Creator of the physical universe is above nature and is spiritual and imaterial. We know he exists; but, being beyond the grasp of our senses we can only apprehend him and not comprehend him. Our notion of his being, then since we are so deeply rooted in the physical can only be measured with material images, which we provided with our imaginations and our dreams. The supernatural, then, is a superior force, both spiritual and divine, that has power over the physical universe to change the nature of created things, either in themselves or in their modes of action, and either directly through himself or indirectly through angels or demons or departed spirits. Coleridge is thoroughly romantic in this conception of the supernatural. He creates a new and exotic beauty from the images stored in his imagination. It "lives and breathes before the eyes" and yet it is fantastic, improbable, even impossible. One important factor in understanding the exotic and fantastic nature of the supernatural in his poems is to realize the The Ancient Mariner and Christabel were indirectly influenced by his opium dreams and Kubla Khan was the direct result of an opium dream- proof of this is found in both his Biographia Literaria and Letters written to his wife and friends throughout his opium days. The fact that The Ancient Mariner and Christabel were influenced by his opium dreams does not eliminate the possibility that they were the result of a plan, however- Coleridge himself in his Biographia Literaria assures us that they were- "It was agreed that my endeavors should be directed to persons and characters supernatural." In addition the account of his walk with Wordsworth and Dorothy as well as the argument that precedes the poem provide the external evidence that the Ancient Mariner deals with the supernatural. Spectral persecutions, tutelary spirits and dead men navigating a ship are to be the main elements. In fact the spectral persecution by the tutelary spirits which we find to be at first daemonic and later angelic is most evident throughout the Ancient Mariner. The Christabel, Coleridge called "nothing more than a common Fairy Tale." In fact the poem itself is exotic, deals with enchantment and evil spirits "masking in human forms." Geraldine is weird, unreal, unworldly- she provides the evil influence in the poem- Christabel's mother, who watches from beyond the grave provides the good influence- Geraldine is present throughout the poem, we see her, and through her actions, realize what she is. Christabel's mother is only alluded to; yet, we feel her presence. Unfortunately like Kubla Khan, Christabel is a mere fragment. Had he finished it I cannot but feel that Christabel's mother would have held a more prominent part in the conclusion. Kubla Khan is a dream picture or a rather a part of a dream picture for it was never finished- the background with its supernatural atmosphere of "caverns, measureless to men" "sunless sea" "woman wailing for her demon lover," and "dancing rocks," foreshadows great possibilities. Unfortunately because of the fact that it was never finished, we can only guess, if even that, what might have resulted had not that man from Porlock broken in upon Coleridge's translation into words of this dream picture. Of his three supernatural poems, the Ancient Mariner is his sole poetic literary masterpiece. Coleridge was not a great poet, but he was nevertheless an interesting one- his great merit lies in the utter facility with which he combined the concrete with the abstract, the neutral with the supernatural, in his complete grip of the concrete and facile manipulation of impossibilities. There, he provided both the elements of belief and interest that makes the success of such poems. It is the simplicity and effect woven in the mingling of the concrete with the abstract. That helps us in receiving these abnormal impressions as facts, and in our accepting these lines as facts. Coleridge has verily accomplished his poetic creed.


The New York Times assigned to the story a campaign-trail reporter, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, whose political perceptions are bland and whose knowledge of Israeli-American relations is an antiseptic zero. At the newspaper of record, a thing like that does not happen by accident. They took the most anxiously awaited meeting with a foreign leader of President Obama’s term thus far, and buried it on page 12. The coverage of a major event, which the same newspaper had greeted only the day before by running an oversize attack-Iran op-ed by Jeffrey Goldberg, has officially now shrunk to the scale of a smaller op-ed.
In fact, as any reader of the transcript may judge, President Obama sounded a more urgent note about the progress Israel ought to make in yielding what it long has promised to the Palestinian people. Palestine was the proper name that dominated Obama’s side of the news conference. In the Times story, by contrast, the word Iran occurs three times before the first mention of “Palestinians.” Iran is mentioned twice more before the words West Bank are uttered once.
I recognize Israel’s legitimate concerns about the possibility of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon when they have a president who has in the past said that Israel should not exist. That would give any leader of any country pause. Having said that, if there is a linkage between Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, I personally believe it actually runs the other way. To the extent that we can make peace with the Palestinians — between the Palestinians and the Israelis — then I actually think it strengthens our hand in the international community in dealing with a potential Iranian threat. This was a reluctantly formulated but direct and inescapable inversion of the Netanyahu doctrine on linkage. Not a trace of it appears in the Times account.
The fact is, is that if the people of Gaza have no hope, if they can’t even get clean water at this point, if the border closures are so tight that it is impossible for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts to take place, then that is not going to be a recipe for Israel’s long-term security or a constructive peace track to move forward. And yet not a word from Stolberg and the Times about these words of Obama’s on Gaza. Nor was any analytic piece offered as a supplement — the usual procedure in assessing an event of this importance.
To sum up, what happened at the meeting can be judged plainly enough by the news conference that followed. Binyamin Netanyahu tried to make it all about Iran. Obama declined, and spoke again and again about the importance of peace in the entire region, and the crucial role that Israel would have to play by freezing the West Bank settlements and negotiating in good faith to achieve a Palestinian state.
Let us end where we began, with Barack Obama on the good of peaceable relations with Iran, and the New York Times on the importance of thinking such relations are close to impossible.
The decision-makers at the New York Times are acting again as if their readers had no other means of checking the facts they report. They are saying the thing that is not, without remembering that the record which refutes them has become easily and quickly available. A great newspaper is dying. And on the subject of Israel, it is doing its best to earn its death-warrant.


I'd like to say a few words about the B&Bs; advertised in The Times. They are, for the most part, expensive, with ridiculous, unnecessary frills. If one has to pay the prices I've seen quoted, then one might as well stay at a hotel, with one exception--in Europe where the idea originated, one can easily find a clean, sharp little room for the night.
Winsome Jerome (June 23) is right on. It is only here in America where one can demand exorbitant prices from weary, gullible travelers, with the lure of a home-cooked breakfast. Let's keep the B&Bs; in the proper perspective for which they were originally intended, an inexpensive, clean room, minus the frills.


Adm. Dennis Blair (Ret.) intends to offer his resignation as the nation's intelligence chief, four sources said today. A U.S. official said that a search is underway for his replacement. Two days ago, a Senate committee released a scathing report on the efficacy of Blair's Office of the Director of National Intelligence, particularly the National Counterterrorism Center, which apparently did not view the integration of tactical threat intelligence as its top priority.
Blair has worn out his welcome at the White House. The National Security Staff lost confidence in his ability to prioritize and to solve the intelligence community's mammoth bureaucratic hassles. The U.S. official said that the White House has interviewed "several strong candidates." Former Sen. Chuck Hagel, the chairman of the president's intelligence advisory board, and Gen. James Clapper (Ret.), the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, are seen by other intelligence officials as top candidates. Clapper will face a tough confirmation, and his career profile is similar to Blair's. Hagel would be feared by the military intelligence establishment, but he gets along with CIA director Leon Panetta, who will not be leaving his job.
Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the ranking member on the House intelligence committee, said in a statement that Blair's resignation "is the result of the Obama administration's rampant politicization of national security and outright disregard for congressional intelligence oversight."


Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard in "Hit and Run"
Spirited and saucy, “Hit and Run” is a small movie with big spirit, a Tarantino-ish sensibility, and a scattergun ethos that results in more hits than misses. It’s continually funny and surprisingly tenderhearted, so much so that even when it runs into dead ends and confusions you stay with it.
Dax Shepard, who wrote and co-directs, stars as Charlie Bronson, a mystery man living in the witness protection program in rural California with his girlfriend, Annie (Shepard’s real-life sweetie, Kristen Bell.) When Annie gets a job opportunity in Los Angeles, Charlie determines to help her get there, even though it’s the most dangerous place in the world for him. And the danger has been heightened by Annie’s jealous ex, who forces Charlie to reveal his true identity and deal with his past.
Along the way, there are outlandish visual and verbal jokes, fistfights and car chases, and some unexpected cameos (including a quite funny performance by Bradley Cooper as a gangster). It can get sloppy and silly and gratuitous at times, but “Hit and Run” never feels tired. Its energy and verve overcome its misfires.


Joe McKendrick is an author and independent analyst who tracks the impact of information technology on management and markets. Joe is co-author, along with 16 leading industry leaders and thinkers, of the SOA Manifesto, which outlines the values and guiding principles of service orientation. He speaks frequently on cloud, data, and enterprise computing topics at industry events and Webcasts. As an independent analyst, he has authored numerous research reports in partnership with Forbes Insights and Unisphere Research, a division of Information Today, Inc. In a previous life, Joe served as director of the Administrative Management Society (AMS), an international professional association dedicated to advancing knowledge within the IT and business management fields. He is a graduate of Temple University.
Software may be growing increasingly ubiquitous. But that just means the problems associated with poor design are growing as well.
If things don't go right at the federal bankruptcy court in San Francisco this December 6th, Web services could potentially have its very own SCO Group drama at some time in the not-so-distant future. There's an effort underway in what could be the industry's most important test to date of its ability to shield Web services methods from legal shenanigans.
As if we don't have enough to worry about, there's a new crisis in the offing. A report making the rounds predicts that we'll soon be straining the capacity of our networks, which may be unable to handle the rising tide of XML and Web services messages.
One of the most immediate business benefits that can come out of Web services and SOA is that of reuse. Namely, companies or their developers shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel every time they need to build or integrate a new application.
Just to amplify Joe's previous post on BEA's open source strategy, let me offer a Wal-Mart analogy. That may sound strange but bear with me.
Since Web services is based on open, accessible, and (allegedly) universally accepted standards, you'd think there would be more interplay between the Web services and open-source communities. But it hasn't really turned out that way yet.
Bill Gates remains a big believer in the power and potential of Web services. He contends that standards will generate a "more model-based approach to developing applications.