Since we last met, the United States has chosen a new president. A number of the views articulated and policies proposed in the course of the campaign and the ensuing weeks pose significant challenges for Harvard and its most deeply held commitments. At the same time, eruptions of frightening expressions of hatred, bias, and violence have targeted members of our own community as well as thousands more across the country.
I want to say a few words today about how the University is responding to these new realities and to reaffirm our essential values and responsibilities as an academic institution in these unsettling times. I have distributed two messages—on November 15 and 28 [both appear below]—designed to begin to address some of these questions. The most recent message considered the possibility of more aggressive enforcement of federal immigration laws and detailed the heightened support and protection we are offering students, faculty and staff. I urge you to read those communications if you have not already. As an early and fervent public supporter of the DREAM Act, I feel particular concern about our undocumented students and as an update to my letter last week, I want to report that I have been in contact over the past few days with legal advisors, with members of Congress and individuals in the Executive Branch on behalf of these vulnerable members of our community. Our support for them is strong and unequivocal.
Other measures and policies under discussion concern us as well. The resources provided for research through agencies like NIH [the National Institutes of Health] and NSF [the National Science Foundation] are critical to Harvard. Last year, we received $597 million in federal funding for research. We will be very focused on making the case for continuing and indeed increasing resources for research with those likely to influence policy in Washington. Sustaining this support is imperative not just for the work so many of you do but for the discoveries, inventions, cures, and engines of economic growth that arise from both basic and applied research to benefit society as a whole.
As you may have read, some members of Congress last spring requested detailed information from universities with large endowments. While it is unclear what form specific proposals might take, recent information from Washington suggests that this focus will continue with efforts in the new Congress that would seek to tax or otherwise constrain the use of our endowment [see this dispatch from Inside Higher Ed, with links to the underlying proposals]. This would be a matter of gravest concern as Harvard’s endowment provides 36 percent of the University’s annual operating budget and 50 percent of operating funds for FAS. We, along with other institutions, will continue to vigorously make the case for the positive effect our endowment has in areas such as student aid, path breaking research, libraries and museums, and support for faculty.
We are committed to attracting the most talented students and faculty from across the world. This means that immigration policies have a direct effect on our fundamental purposes, and we will work to ensure that Harvard remains an attractive—and available—destination for scholars near and far.
As additional policy proposals emerge relevant to Harvard’s research and teaching mission, we will be engaged in representing the interests of the University and the members of its community. I anticipate that this work will consume a considerable portion of my time and attention in the months to come.
An early twentieth-century civil rights activist named Nannie Helen Burroughs once remarked that education is “democracy’s life insurance.” I invoke those words often, and today I do so again in a spirit that goes beyond what Burroughs intended—though in a manner I am confident she would approve. I would like us to think in these times about our responsibilities as a university to serve democracy by striving to be a kind of life insurance. There is of course the sense that I think Burroughs meant—by educating students with critical minds, discerning judgment, broad understanding, and respect for their fellow citizens and for the rule of law.
But our responsibility is not just for the students we send into the world. It is for who we are and what we do here. Veritas is our motto, yet we find ourselves in a time where truth and facts seem hardly to matter. We must uphold and make the case for the commitment to reason, truth and the power of knowledge. We must be unwavering in the rigor with which we pursue new insights and test our hypotheses, and we must be open to the kind of debate, difference and variety of viewpoints that can change and strengthen ideas.
To create a community in which individuals dare to debate and disagree we must also build an environment of belonging and mutual respect. As a time when we read about—indeed witness—escalating incidents of hatred and violence—ethnic, religious, racial and political—we need to insist on a different way of being together. More now than ever, we must advance our aspiration to be a place where every member of our community, regardless of race, gender, disability, religion, or sexual orientation, can thrive by having the full opportunity to engage in all that Harvard offers. These efforts take on a deeper significance for those members of our community who have been specially burdened by the troubling rhetoric and events of recent months—Muslims, immigrants, ethnic minorities among them. We must live our values and demonstrate what it means to be a community enriched not embattled by difference and diversity.
We face the future with new responsibilities. When I visited South Africa in 2009, I was struck by how everyone I met in that fledgling democracy felt a kind of urgency about the nation’s future trajectory as well as a sense that what each individual did had direct implications not just for its success but for its very survival. Nothing seemed assured. In contrast, I thought to myself, we Americans seemed to take our government and political order for granted. This is a time of profound change in America, a time when we are called on to abandon such complacency. I have enormous faith in all of you and in Harvard as an institution to rise to that challenge.
It has been one week since the end of the most divisive and contentious election any of us has ever known. Whatever our personal political views, emotions run high and feelings deep in what for many is a challenging and uncertain time. And not just acrimonious words but escalating numbers of cruel and frightening incidents—around the country, including on college campuses—now threaten our profoundest national and human values.
Although there is much about which we may differ and disagree—among ourselves and with others beyond Harvard—we must affirm the values of inclusion and belonging, and exemplify the respect for individuals and ideas that is the essence of an academic community. We must condemn and resist hatred, intimidation, and intolerance in every form. Working together, we have an obligation to provide all members of our community with an environment in which they can live in safety and dignity.
I have necessarily regarded this moment not just through the eyes of a university president, but also those of a historian—as a scholar keenly aware of how history turns on contingency, of how much what each one of us says and does matters. This is especially true in times of upheaval and change. We cannot shrink from—or escape—our responsibilities to both the present and the future. Violence, hatred, and divisiveness put all of us at risk; they put our society at risk; they put the very idea and purpose of universities at risk. In the face of such challenges, we must together demonstrate what it means to be a community enriched, not embattled, by difference and diversity; we must listen generously to one another across disagreement; we must model reasoned and respectful discourse and argument; we must all support those in our community who may feel vulnerable or under attack. And together we must use our capacities and our values—our important work as scholars, educators, and learners; our shared commitment to truth, understanding, and compassion—to help heal the wounds and divisions this election has so powerfully brought to light. Harvard has done this “through change and through storm” for almost four hundred years. Now it is our turn and our responsibility.
In my message of November 15, I urged the Harvard community to affirm fundamental values of inclusion and belonging, and to model the respect for people and ideas that rest at the heart of any academic community. Our responsibility to each other requires us to demonstrate that we are enriched by difference and respectful disagreement, and to support any individuals in our community who feel vulnerable or unsafe.
In the days since I sent this message, there has been growing concern about the effect more aggressive enforcement of federal immigration laws could have on many students, scholars, and staff at Harvard, especially on students who are undocumented.
I write today to reaffirm our clear and unequivocal support for these individuals, who are part of the fabric of University life, and to share information about related University resources and evolving plans intended to ensure we continue to foster an environment where all at Harvard can thrive.
Some have asked about the role of the institution in enforcing federal immigration laws. Last week, Chief Francis D. Riley of the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) issued a message restating the HUPD’s practice of not inquiring about the immigration status of faculty, students, or staff and noting that the department is not involved in enforcing federal immigration laws. This is consistent with the policies of the cities of Boston and Cambridge. Furthermore, the University does not and will not voluntarily share information on the immigration status of undocumented members of our community. And, as a matter of longstanding policy, law enforcement officials seeking to enter campus are expected to check in first with the HUPD and, in cases involving the enforcement of the immigration laws, will be required to obtain a warrant.
In addition to these commitments we will also be supplementing existing legal resources available to the community. The University will provide additional support to expand the work of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, based at Harvard Law School. In addition to being a confidential place where members of the community can turn for legal advice, the clinic is planning a series of information sessions in the weeks to come. Along with expertise on our own faculty, the University will also invite immigration experts to campus who can inform members of our community about the potential implications of various policy options that the new administration might pursue. As circumstances unfold and as members of our community articulate new or different concerns, we will respond with appropriate actions and resources.
We will also continue Harvard’s advocacy for government policies that advance the interests of undocumented students. I recently joined more than 200 college and university presidents in voicing support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, which allows undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States before turning 16 to enroll in college. These students have made—and continue to make—outstanding contributions to our community. I will make the case for them, and the benefits they receive as a result of DACA, with government leaders in Washington, DC, in the weeks and months ahead. I will continue my active support for the DREAM Act, federal legislation that would provide a permanent solution for undocumented students. Harvard was an early and strong advocate of both the DREAM Act and DACA, and we will continue to make every effort to advance their goals. We will also sustain our existing financial aid policies without reference to immigration status.
Finally, while Harvard College and the graduate and professional schools have made a variety of important resources available, we will also create a single, University-wide point of connection for students and administrators seeking information or guidance around undocumented students and other immigration concerns. This work will be led by my chief of staff, Lars Madsen, and I have asked him to serve as a point person to coordinate these efforts across the University.
While the immigration policies of the new administration remain undefined, we recognize and share the deep anxiety that campaign rhetoric and proposals have created for many members of the Harvard community. Their cause—the opportunity they have earned through hard work to pursue their research, teaching, and education at Harvard—is our cause. We stand with them as one community in support of each other, in support of the values we share, and in support of a commitment to inclusion and belonging that must be at the core of our institution.


At last - a new urgent care service has finally launched in Wisbech, almost two years later than previously planned.
The pilot scheme has been launched at the North Cambs Hospital in Wisbech.
The Local Urgent Care Hub (LUC) aims to keep people out of hospital A&E departments thanks to the support of GP expertise supporting practitioners at the Minor Injury Unit (MIU) at the North Cambs Hospital.
The aim is to treat more patients in Wisbech, reducing the need for people to travel to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital at King's Lynn or one of the area's other hospitals.
The LUC pilot was due to launch in April 2017 but a lack of GP capacity put the scheme on hold in both Wisbech and Doddington. There is still no launch date for the Doddington pilot, but it is hoped it will go ahead later this year.
The LUC pilot at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely did successfully launch in 2017 and has been a huge success, so much so that the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group - which funds the scheme - announced last autumn that funding would be extended for a further 12 months.
Practitioners at the North Cambs Hospital will assess and treat patients with an urgent condition, but they will be able to call on rapid GP support if required. No appointment is needed and opening hours remain the same (Monday to Friday 8.30pm to 6pm).
Unlike at Ely, where there is a doctor on site, GP support at Wisbech will be provided via the telephone, or if required patients will be referred to an ‘on call’ GP at North Brink Practice for further consultation and treatment.
Wisbech is the second of the three pilots to launch within East Cambridgeshire and Fenland. Helping to improve access to urgent care, each LUCS pilot is locality specific, recognising the different opportunities and challenges in each area.


Cowboys WR Allen Hurns was carted off after suffering a dislocated ankle and fractures. He underwent surgery and will miss the rest of the playoffs.
ARLINGTON, Texas — A gruesome injury to Allen Hurns cast a shadow on an otherwise celebratory night for the divisional round-bound Cowboys.
The veteran receiver was carted off the field, fist raised, halfway through the first quarter after an awkward tackle from strong safety Bradley McDougald on a 14-yard reception up the middle. Replay video showed Hurns banging his fist into the ground in pain, his left foot turned 180 degrees outward after it was crushed beneath McDougald.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after the game that Hurns suffered a dislocated ankle and fractures. He underwent surgery Saturday night and will miss the rest of the playoffs.
Cooper led Cowboys receivers with 106 yards in the 24-22 win.
But he, too, was slow to get up on a first-half tackle. Slot receiver Cole Beasley needed medical attention on a 14-yard catch before Hurns’ injury in the first quarter but escaped with an ankle sprain.
Beasley struggled to fit his shoe over the tender ankle at his locker postgame. He was more concerned for Hurns.
Seahawks and Cowboys alike fled benches to wish Hurns well before he was carted off on a stretcher. Broadcast footage of head coach Jason Garrett holding Hurns’ hand went viral. Teammates texted Hurns while he was set for surgery, too, wishing him well.
Seattle kicker Sebastian Janikowski also suffered a game-ending left thigh injury just before halftime.
Hurns caught 20 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns in the regular season after signing as a free-agent with the Cowboys in March.
But his two-year, $12 million contract only guaranteed his 2018 $2.5 million base salary — not the $4 million base should Dallas re-sign him for a second season. Cowboys management has said it wants to extend Cooper in the offseason. They will have the option to part ways with Hurns up until the NFL year ends on March 13.
Garrett, declining to comment on specifics beyond a “significant injury to his lower leg,” suggested Hurns’ tenure in Dallas would continue.
Quarterback Dak Prescott praised how Hurns has contributed on and off the field.
“One of the best teammates I’ve ever had, and I think anybody on this team would say that,” Prescott said. “When a guy like that goes down, it hurts. Just seeing how nasty that was, it hurts a lot. But you keep him in your mind the whole game, knowing that Hurns would be giving it his all if he was in there.
The Cowboys will play at the Saints or Rams in the divisional round.


The settlement value based upon the difference between the spot price of a currency contract and the basis of the futures contract of the same or similar asset.
basis swap. InvestorGuide.com. WebFinance, Inc. http://www.investorguide.com/definition/basis-swap.html (access:April 25, 2019).


GREENWICH — The town of Greenwich is asking for the public’s help in spreading holiday cheer by making sure that every resident can enjoy a holiday meal.
Under the Holiday Aid program, gift cards are purchased at Stop & Shop and Acme and given to needy residents and families so they can purchase all the ingredients required for a holiday meal.
The number of residents served by the program increased again this year, with 436 households in Greenwich receiving help, Brush said. About two-thirds of those are families, which increases the need for larger gift cards. That prompted the call for additional help from the community, she said.
“We get a lot of families through this program, so we need a lot of support so we can get these cards for everyone in the program,” Brush said. With gift cards, a family can purchase whatever they enjoy the most for their holiday meal.
Town residents who earn no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines are eligible for the program.
Brush was quick to thank the regular donors for their help over the years and was hoping to sign up new supporters.
* mail a check to the Greenwich Department of Human Services Fund Inc., 101 Field Point Road, Greenwich, CT 06830.
Through the support of donors, the program goes back decades with the tradition of helping at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. During Thanksgiving the donors usually pay for gift baskets to be delivered to eligible people in town that includes all the ingredients, including a turkey, for people to have a traditional meal.
The Holiday Aid program is one of several initiatives run through the Department of Human Services this time of year. On Dec. 15, the department will visit Agnes Morley Heights and give out unwrapped toys. On Dec. 18, it will distribute gifts from its Angel Tree to needy families in town.


The Oscars are the most glamorous night of the year. But just because you have an invite — or even a nomination — doesn’t give you license to rock the fanciest frock you can find.
In fact, industry insiders tell The Post that wearing a custom princess pouf or glittering gold when you’re not up for one of the evening’s top prizes could be as much of a faux pas as wearing off-the-rack Zara.
It’s not just the plus-ones who have to worry about ruffling feathers, either.
Lady Gaga experienced this last month, when she arrived at the Golden Globes in a periwinkle Valentino confection that required two wranglers to manage the lengthy train — only to lose the acting prize to Glenn Close, dressed in an understated black cape.
Dressing a Best Actress winner in the right outfit starts months before the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences even announces the nominees.
According to a VIP fashion publicist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, brands are paying attention as early as the spring and summer, with film festivals such as Cannes in May and Venice in August.
“I’m looking at what movies are getting buzz that are likely to make it to the Oscars, and we’re engaging with those actors and actresses early and trying to form relationships,” she says.
Being a shoo-in for the grand prize isn’t the only priority, she says, adding that a designer would rather have someone that matches his or her aesthetic and messaging — but it does change the conversation.
There’s also the question of whether the actor is up for a leading or supporting role award. The former tend to wear belle-of-the-ball gowns or sequinned Old Hollywood numbers.
But Supporting Actress winners, he says, “have more leeway.” Think Lupita Nyong’o’s powder blue Prada from 2014 or Viola Davis’ striking ruby sheath from 2017.
Still, designers want to dress their clients in a way that will draw attention to the brand, which sometimes is at odds with what the celebrities — even those who will be on the grand stage presenting an award — think is appropriate.
That has happened to Aliza Licht, a fashion industry executive who previously did celebrity dressing for Donna Karan.
Designer Christian Siriano, who outfitted a whopping 17 women for last year’s Oscars, including Supporting Actress nominee Laurie Metcalf, says that upstaging a winner is certainly a concern among some of his clients.
“There are definitely actresses that are like, ‘Oh, I’m not nominated, so I don’t want to stand out so much. I want to be a little more subdued, and I want to make sure that the attention is on the people being nominated,’ ” he tells The Post.
But he says that certain stars transcend the politics of the red carpet, such as Whoopi Goldberg, whom he dressed in a voluminous floral gown — and sunglasses.
“She’s like one of the only living EGOT winners. She’s gonna wear whatever she wants to wear,” he says.
Siriano is also seeing a shift.
And while Swennen will caution her clients if an outfit might read as too over-the-top for their station, she says she welcomes rule-breaking.


Election Day was difficult for Republicans across the country as they lost the White House and lost seats in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House.
But Missouri Republicans might have dodged a bullet in that while they lost the Governor’s and the State Treasurer’s Offices and three seats in the Missouri House, they held onto Kenny Hulshof’s open Congressional seat, actually picked up three seats in the State Senate, and delivered the state for the McCain-Palin presidential ticket.
Missouri Republican Party Executive Director Jared Craighead says there is reason to be optimistic looking ahead to the 2010 elections and Senator Kit Bond’s reelection bid. Craighead says that while Missouri Republicans are invigorated with Tuesday’s outcome, Democrats should be demoralized because they put a lot of time, effort, and money into Missouri and could not deliver the state for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.


MANCHESTER UNITED are eyeing four summer transfer deals.
Express Sport understands Manchester United will splash the cash this summer.
United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is willing to back Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the transfer market.
The Red Devils are expected to pursue Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho, while United are also in the hunt for a centre-back.
Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane and Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli are targets for United.
MEN add that Crystal Palace star Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a target for United, with the 21-year-old impressing this season.
A central midfielder is also being eyed as a long-term replacement for Nemanja Matic.
Express Sport understands West Ham star Declan Rice is also a target for United this summer.
The midfielder has been tipped to join Manchester City, with West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini admitting every player has a price.
And former United coach Rene Meulensteen urged Solskjaer to sign Rice this summer.
“What I like about him, apart from his physical stature, he’s a big boy, do you know what I mean,” Meulensteen said.
“(On Saturday) I thought he played excellent.
“His reading of the game, breaking up play and reacting to things is very, very good.
However, it was also claimed this week that Real Madrid are chasing West Ham’s Rice.


CHESTER >> Connecticut River Artisans Cooperative members are hosting an open house on Sunday June 1, 1-4 p.m.
If you are a Connecticut artist looking for a new venue to showcase your work, CT River Artisans might be it. Located in Chester, a well known haven for art and a “Shopper’s Destination, the group has been established since 1980.
Stop in, enjoy the refreshments, chat with one of our artists and find out what we are all about. Learn about the advantages of a cooperative versus consigning your work to a gallery or selling at shows. Bring your portfolio, pictures or samples of your work.
The cooperative is looking for wall art, baskets, fabric work, soaps, high-end designer knit-wear, all handcrafted, art-inspired work. Items must be quality originals made by the artist, no imports, wholesalers or reps. It is not accepting jewelry or candles at this time.
Call CT River Artisans at 860-526-5575 or Gay Petruzzi Ritter at 860 578 9595 with any questions.
The cooperative is located at 4 Water Street. Visit www.ctriverartisans.org to learn more.


October 31, 2004  To make sure your Halloween costume is authentic, try consulting A Field Guide to Monsters: This Book Could Save Your Life before you head out the door. NPR's Jennifer Ludden talks monster facts and history with the book's co-author Dave Elliot.
October 31, 2004  After horror writer H.P. Lovecraft died in 1937, his friends founded a publishing house to preserve his legacy. Obscure but influential, Arkham House gave sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury and others their first big break. Wisconsin Public Radio's Brian Bull reports.
October 30, 2004  Ken Wells is the author of the book Travels with Barley, in which he recounts his journey through the southern United States in search of beer people and beer culture. Hear Wells and NPR's Scott Simon.
October 28, 2004  In the wake of the curse-busting World Series victory by the Boston Red Sox, NPR's Noah Adams talks with renowned poet Donald Hall about the verses he's dedicated to baseball.
October 27, 2004  Geeks, gangsters, and the birth of the comic book -- we'll look back at the tawdry roots of the comics industry, a far cry from today's stories starring square-jawed heroes.
October 27, 2004  NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates discusses the new book Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America with its co-author, Samuel Abrams. Abrams argues that the "red vs. blue" cultural divide repeated by American media is inaccurate shorthand, and that Americans agree more than disagree about many important issues.
October 27, 2004  Famed essayist and columnist Stanley Crouch believes the concept of authenticity is not easy for all Americans to grasp — and that's a problem. He dissects the dilemma in his new book The Artificial White Man: Essays on Authenticity. Hear NPR's Tavis Smiley and Crouch.
October 26, 2004  Alan Cheuse reviews Angel of Harlem, Kuwana Haulsey's biographical novel based on the life of Dr. May Chinn, the first female African-American doctor in Harlem.
October 26, 2004  Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt.
October 25, 2004  Novelist Russell banks is the author of many works of fiction, Continental Drift, Rule of the Bone, Cloudsplitter, and Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter, both of which have been made into films. He speaks with Terry Gross about his latest novel, Darling.
October 25, 2004  Musician Lenny Kaye is perhaps best known as Patti Smith's guitarist. But he's also a music writer, whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice and Creem. His new book, You Call it Madness: The Sensuous Song of the Croon, chronicles the male singers of the 1930s known for their suave, sophisticated and romantic interpretations of song: Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee and Russ Columbo.


The North West 200 starts in sunny conditions on Tuesday as Michael Dunlop heads Superbike practice with Alastair Seeley fastest in the Supersport class.
Seeley is aiming to become the all-time race record-holder at the meeting as he aims for the 16th race victory which would see him edge ahead of other joint record-holder Robert Dunlop.
John McGuinness was among a number of riders to go through the speed trap at more than 200 mph in Tuesday's session.


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Traditionally, nature shows offer a soothing escape into the beauty of the natural world. But with ‘Our Planet,’ the creators aim to bring new layers of honesty and environmental responsibility to the genre.
In the new series ‘Our Planet,’ producers counterpoint gorgeous shots of the natural world and animal behavior with information about the threats to those ecosystems from climate change, deforestation, and other human activity.
For decades, the velvety lilt of David Attenborough has served as a soothing backdrop to nature documentaries. But Mr. Attenborough’s latest project isn’t your average nature show.
“Our Planet,” which begins airing Friday on Netflix, has plenty of jaw-dropping imagery, from humpback whales bubble-net feeding to flamingos flocking to a desolate salt pan after a rain. But those shots are couched in a narrative that underscores just how much humans are destroying the Earth. In the past, there’s been a divide between nature shows that highlight the wonders of the animal kingdom and documentaries with a more activist agenda. “Our Planet” aims to bridge those two worlds.
The “Our Planet” creators try to straddle that divide.
Colorful reefs, a tiger stalking through the grass, and David Attenborough’s soothing voice: The opening scenes of the new documentary “Our Planet,” which begins airing on Netflix Friday, feel very familiar.
But the message accompanying those opening shots isn’t about the visual splendor on screen.
There’s been a certain divide in the past between nature shows that are primarily about delighting viewers with the wonders of the animal kingdom, and documentaries with a more activist agenda. The “Our Planet” creators are hoping to bridge those two worlds – and some environmentalists and documentary producers are hoping that the days of pure natural beauty, divorced from the context of the threats to those ecosystems, are ending.
‘Our Planet’ explores the ways in which gentoo penguins are adapting to their changing environment – while highlighting how those shifts are creating challenges for other species in the region.
There is still plenty of jaw-dropping imagery, from humpback whales bubble-net feeding to flamingos flocking to a desolate salt pan after a rain. But those shots are couched in a narrative that underscores just how much humans are destroying the Earth.
A riveting orangutan sequence ends with the note that this could be the last generation of wild orangutans as their jungle habitat disappears. And a devastating scene of more than 100,000 walruses hauled up on a single beach, overcrowded due to lack of sea ice, shows walruses plunging to their death from cliffs that they should never have had to scale.
A Humpback whale feeds off Cape Town in November. Humpback whale numbers have recovered since the ban on commercial whaling, but global warming is now reducing krill, their main food supply.
A sequence like the courtship ritual of a bird of paradise has “got that absolute pure wonder,” says Colin Butfield, the conservation adviser to “Our Planet” from the World Wildlife Fund. But it also “brings home the fact that each patch of tropical forest contains wonders in many cases that are seen nowhere else, so the loss of that particular area has importance,” he adds.
From the beginning, Mr. Butfield notes, the “Our Planet” creators aimed to discuss threats to the natural world in a more overt way than previous large-scale productions have. They hope that they can appeal to a broad audience by balancing discomfort and outrage with hope and beauty.
Of course, there are still plenty of questions about just how much change such productions do inspire. Mr. Butfield says he hopes the show elevates the importance of biodiversity, climate change, and sustainability just as the United Nations is getting ready to revisit big international goals for all three topics in 2020.
A tree frog ponders his next move in the rain in Manu National Park, Peru. The Peruvian park is home to more than 150 amphibian species. The greater Amazon rainforest is home to more than 1,000 different kinds of frogs, and new ones are still being discovered.
Louie Psihoyos, who made “Racing Extinction” and the Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove,” about dolphin-hunting practices in Japan, notes that storytelling is very often the most effective way to drive change. In his films, he focuses on narrative arc that first engages viewers, then outrages them, then shows them a path forward and gives cause for hope and reason to change.


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More than four decades after starting out in the business, and two decades after more or less retiring from the hit parade, songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller still stand as the most successful non-performing writing partnership in the history of rock 'n' roll.
Imagine that no one else but these two had ever written a rock song. There'd still be more than enough to go around to keep a pretty terrific oldies station in business: "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Treat Me Nice," "Loving You," "Kansas City," "Stand by Me," "On Broadway," "Yakety Yak," "Love Potion No. 9" and "Ruby Baby," just for starters.
To KRTH-FM devotees, the crucial parts of the canon may carry a certain sacrosanctity--but not necessarily to the writers themselves, whose legacy was not arrived at without a faculty for self-criticism.
It seems the four-time Tony-winning director wanted to include the 1959 Drifters hit "There Goes My Baby" in the show but couldn't seem to settle upon a way to stage the ballad. Leiber was blunt in his advice: "Why don't you throw it out of the show?"
"And, I mean, I wasn't kidding," he assures. "I told Zaks, 'I can't stand this song anyway. It's my least favorite song. It's stupid.' There goes my baaayyyybeee . . . " Leiber begins singing the chorus like a derisive schoolboy, in case it's not yet abundantly clear that, all humility aside, he as a matter of fact really and genuinely does not like this song .
"I said, 'Great!' " Leiber says, suddenly equal parts enthusiastic and begrudging.
The modesty does not extend, of course, to every song in the figuratively and literally rich catalogue. The writer-producer pair profess pride in the "Smokey Joe's Cafe" show not just as a vanity booster but a chance to revive some of their lesser-known numbers alongside the obvious Elvis and Coasters chestnuts.
Of the more obscure numbers in the show, Stoller says: "Maybe we missed when we made the records, but the songs are still there, and we've had an opportunity to have them presented in a better light. You know, not every record you make is as good as it could be, and some of these songs, we just didn't get 'em right on the first go-round, and so we're taking another shot."
The show is performed by nine singer-dancers with a seven-piece band: 40 or so songs, nonstop but for an intermission. Mindful of three earlier attempts within the last decade to create a musical around their existing body of work--two that were staged in London alone and one in Seattle that was the loose springboard for "Smokey Joe's"--the celebrated collaborators are glad there's no attempt at wrapping a text around their songs in this, the largest such L&S-based; production to date.
There are plans afoot to take the show to a Broadway theater, the Virginia, this coming February. It's a long way to the Great White Way for what started out as a career writing semi-scandalous "race" music in the early '50s. It might be a fulfillment of a dream . . . or maybe just a half-fulfillment.
"A few years after we first started writing songs, we thought about theater," Stoller says. "Even though we were both very in tune with blues singers and black culture, we were exposed to a lot of other things--among them, obviously, songs by George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Frank Loesser. And we harbored a desire to do that."
"Still do. We're both very excited about this show, because we've seen some of the run-throughs. But this is stuff we've written before. People know these songs. I suppose that's good for the show, but we'd like to do totally new work, where all the music and lyrics stem from a book of some sort, that tell a story and become a piece in its own."
W hen Leiber dismissed "There Goes My Baby" in front of No. 1 fan Zaks, it hardly marked the first time the producer-writers dissed one of their own perennials.
Or certain interpretations. Most famously, the two initially had no love at all for the record that pretty much made them--Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog," which cemented the Pelvis' then-new love affair with America and spent 11 weeks at No. 1 in 1956.
When that Elvis single first hit--following such early '50s successes for the partners as the Robins' "Riot in Cell Block No. 9" and "Framed"--Stoller and his first wife (he's now married to jazz harpist Corky Hale) had just finished a three-month vacation in Europe, and their ship, the Andrea Doria, was headed back to New York when it smashed into another ship in the fog and sank. Fifty passengers perished on that voyage, but the Stollers made it onto a lifeboat, and their second choice of ocean liner was greeted at the dock by Leiber, armed with a dry silk suit (just in case Stoller was too soggy for a photo-op) and some surprising news.
Recalls Stoller: "He told me at the dock, 'We got a smash hit in "Hound Dog"!' And I said, 'No kidding? Big Mama Thornton's record finally clicked!' "
"Hound Dog" had been written for Thornton as a slow, growling, man-bashing blues four years earlier; the title came about when the writers were trying to think of a suitable euphemism for a certain four-syllable epithet that was too racy even by R&B; standards.
When Leiber first heard Presley's version, he says frankly, "I didn't like it. I thought it was too frenetic and nervous, and not what we had in mind. Certainly lyrically it was a woman's song, but after that, stylistically, it was a regional blues. And Elvis Presley's song was like skiffle mixed with bluegrass mixed with hillbilly. It was white Southern--it wasn't black.
"And the lyric was all screwed up! It didn't make any sense; it just had some slogans. It took, what--30, 40 years--and these slogans turned out to be monumental icons, whether they mean anything or not. And that's a lesson to learn about history. But I didn't think it was very good, and we thought it screwed up our original record, and then it sold something like 7 million copies, and we started . . . "
"Getting used to it," Stoller says with a laugh.
"And before we knew it," adds Leiber, "we liked it a little bit, and every time we went into the bank we liked it more."
Before then, for several years' worth of partnership, the two avowed blues-hounds had written almost exclusively for R&B; singers. Was writing only for black artists initially some matter of purist policy?
"Uh, no, I think more than that we just never figured on writing for white artists," Stoller jokes. "I don't know why we felt that a white singer singing the blues was inauthentic, whereby we gave ourselves a pass as writers to write the blues and the leeway to be as authentic as we could be. I guess later on we started becoming less racist and decided we could write for white people too.
"But when we heard people say, 'Oh, "Kansas City," that's an old blues song,' we thought we had really achieved it, because it was a song that we had just written."
"Hound Dog" was written, to the best of their recollection, in eight to 12 minutes. Then there was the famous afternoon when song publisher Gene Auerbach--dismayed that they'd been indulging in New York night life instead of writing songs for a Presley movie as promised--shoved a couch in front of the hotel room door and ordered them to work. In the space of a few hours, they knocked off "Jailhouse Rock," "Treat Me Nice," "I Want to Be Free" and "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" and then hit the town.
Seemingly effortlessly prodigious as they could be, the two also latched onto another sort of songwriting formula that required a more painstaking attention to craft. After "Yakety Yak," the 1958 Coasters hit, they began writing similarly styled tunes for that vocal group, musical-comedy miniatures with narratives and pauses and punch lines. "Charlie Brown," they remember, took several weeks to write and rehearse, as they concentrated on getting the timing just so.
As Leiber and Stoller have sat in on rehearsals for "Smokey Joe's Cafe" (named after a 1955 Robins hit), many of the suggestions they've fed Zaks have had to do with the pauses and punch lines in these more comedic songs: "There's more work to, say, one of the little Coasters vignettes," Leiber says, "because it's more theatrical and has characters and dialogue in it, so it's like directing a tiny radio play."
Their decidedly unbluesy flair for the theatrical became more pronounced later on, reaching its dramatic apotheosis in Peggy Lee's 1969 reading of their European-flavored dirge "Is That All There Is?" ( not included in the peppy new show).
By the early '70s, they'd lost interest in rock. In recent years, Leiber and Stoller seem to have made almost a full-time career picking up awards--from being among the earliest Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, in 1987, to getting a star on Hollywood Boulevard just two weeks ago--but haven't had much public output.
They wrote some oddball songs in the '80s, Stoller says. "But we were no longer writing for the mainstream of the market. And we no longer had a vehicle with a record company to produce and put records out. As Karl Marx says, if you lose the means of production, then you're in trouble.
"But I think we changed more than the times. I know guys who are out there now older than we are"--both Leiber and Stoller are 61--"who are producing and writing records. We started before they did, but they're six, seven, eight years our senior. I think in a way part of it was that we started so early--we were actually 17--that by the time we were 27, we were old men in the business, in a way."
"And we also, to some degree, got a little bit bored or fed up with the rock 'n' roll idiom," Leiber adds. "Because for us, it was a very limited form with which to express some of the more adult ideas we had. You may be able to bang out a 'rock 'n' roll' arrangement on a song like 'Is That All There Is?' but it's not appropriate."
Says Stoller: "We always wrote to amuse ourselves. And we were fortunate that when we were young, the audience that was buying records--who were in and around our own age--was amused too. But the audience for most records is still in that same age bracket, but we have to write things that amuse us now. And some of 'em may be universal in terms of age, and others may not be as interesting or exciting to somebody of 22 as to somebody in their 50s or 60s or 40s.
"To do it right, we have to find the area in which to produce these songs. And I would think theater's maybe not the only way, but probably the best way, to get off."
The two won't discuss just what sorts of original theatrical concepts they have in mind but seem determined to get something stage-bound off the ground. Which, should the collaboration resume whole-scale, would have Leiber and Stoller's professional partnership well outliving even most of the younger Brill Building collaborators they mentored in the '60s.
Says Leiber: "I know people that work in this business that write hits together, and they hate each other. Just like Gilbert and Sullivan hated each other." He pauses, possibly for grumpy effect. "I don't think I could work with somebody that I didn't like."
Stoller looks up, beaming, almost too pleased: "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!"
"And it'll be the nicest thing!" Leiber growls with a laugh. They suddenly engage in a congratulatory slapping of hands, then--as if veteran comedy writers instead of songsmiths--they start to go over how they could've made the exchange that just ensued funnier in its beats and rhythms.
Stoller: "I should've said, 'Why, Jerry , that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!' "
Leiber: " I should've said, 'It's not Jerry, it's Melvin!' "
* "Smokey Joe's Cafe," UCLA James A. Doolittle Theatre, 1617 N. Vine St., Hollywood. Tuesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. Also next Sunday, Nov. 27, Dec. 4, 7 p.m.; Nov. 21, 8 p.m.; Dec. 8, 15 and 22, Jan. 5, 12 and 19, 2 p.m. Dark Thanksgiving day and Dec. 24-Dec. 30. Through Jan. 22. $15-$47.50. (213) 365-3500 or (714) 740-2000.


We check in with OHL grad and former Buffalo Sabres draft pick Mike Martone, who’s now a school teacher.
This week, a 1-on-1 with Portland Winterhawk and Vegas Golden Knights propsect Cody Glass, who could be an impact player at this year's World Junior Hockey Championship.
In this week's edition of CHL Leaders, we talk to WHL grad Zach Hodder, now the league's manager of player development.
We talk to OHL grad Adam Campbell, who used the CHL Scholarship Program to get his degree and now he runs his own management business.
He's the centrepiece of the Max Pacioretty trade and will be counted on as a key part of Canada's offence at the World Juniors. Gino Reda goes 1-on-1 with Nick Suzuki of the Owen Sound Attack.
It’s the season premiere of our 28th year of the show! Half the current NHL rosters are comprised of CHL grads, so what’s the key? We discuss that and much more with CHL President & OHL Commissioner David Branch.
We check in with Ryan Lindsay, who captained the Oshawa Generals to the 1997 OHL Championship. Thanks to the CHL Scholarship program, he got his degree at the University of New Brunswick. Now? He’s a Managing Partner at All-Risks Insurance Brokers.
NHL Central Scouting has released its final rankings for the upcoming draft! How close is the gap between Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko for first overall? We’ll go 1-on-1 with the man behind the list, the Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr.
Gino Reda goes 1-on-1 with head coach and GM Laurie Barron of the Yarmouth Jr. A Mariners.
We go 1-on-1 with Ottawa 67s sniper Tye Felhaber, who recently signed a contract with the Dallas Stars.
We go 1-on-1 with AJHL Commissioner Ryan Bartoshyk in this week's edition.


30 Gleason con tin ued, turning to Miss Hughes, on her other side "What fatigue?" Miss Hughes said, hid- eously embarrassed. It had, indeed, fled awa) like the trolls and the nIXIes L L 'L- T HERE was an extra air of mys- tery about what was inside the living room, thjs ChrIstmas Eve. A great deal of whis- pering and nodding went on between Miss Strasser and Karl dur- Ing dinner; then they disappeared. I twas Mrs. Martin who cleared away the dessert dishes while the patients drank theIr coffee at the table. When at length the double doors were thrown open and the patients went slowly into the darkened living room, they not only saw what the mystery had been about but heard it. The only light came from the enor- mous decorated spruce standing in the corner by the door to the porch. Wreathing its trunk were presents of every size and shape, wrapped In tin- sel paper, in tissue paper, in white paper with red ribbon And seated fac- ing each other at a square table in the middle of the room were Miss Strasser and Karl, plaYIng on two flat instru- ments that lay before them on the table and made a plucking, buzzing mu- . " h . l ' N h I" h SIC. ... ellgr ac t. t ey sang as they played. "A lies schläft, einsam h " wac t... "Zithers!" exclained Miss Percy, who had travelled In a moment someone discovered the other surprise. Before one of the win- dows on the garden side of the living room was a low table, on which was set a large wooden crate. Inside the box, lighted by concealed candles and visible only through a round hole cut in the top, was arranged a crèche. The viewer stood looking straight down into the scene. "My Irma, she fixes it!" cried Karl as he set down his plectrum. "Alvays she fixes dir K rzppe. In de voodshed she goes and mit die Messer, de knifes, she fixes it." There was a move to turn on a lamp, but the Doctor's voice called out, " the patients, to the accompanIment of the zithers. Even Miss Diggs, sitting in the most comfortable chair, was singing, too, in a baritone voice. "Late in time behold him come," she boomed. "Victim of the Virgin's womb." Mrs. Gleason, seated besIde Miss Diggs, glanced at her with some surprise. But Miss Diggs sang right on, oblivious as usual of anybody but herself. Miss Hughes was still staring down into the scene of the Nativity. She had forgotten what her vision in the barn had been about, but she had had another vision A#I to make up for Ît-a Vi vision about visions She might not be able to re- mem ber to be spiritual, she thought; she mIght he disorganized and neurotic and unstable and formless and every- thing awful; but the form that her formlessness took was that its swinging tides would always bring her something new. "Come on, now, the third verse," the Doctor's voice called encouragIngly. "But I don't know the third verse! " Miss Percy cried, much agitated. "Fake it," the Doctor commanded. "Make it up. 'Born that man no more mav die,' " he sang, off key, with im- mense gusto. "'Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second b . h ' " 1 rt ... "Oh, Doctor, it's all so beautiful," Miss Percy breathed when the music had died away "We mustn't break the spell. Can't we an steal away to our rooms now, and then, tomorrow-" "Pish," said the Doctor. "Mrs. Mar- tin! Let's have a little light on the sub- ject." -NANCY HALE O\,Jt N <, (\ J( C H.. .. 2. 40 LOGr ..... 2. .40 gAle. ..... a.80 ---.. """'\ ) tl)) __ ,S -r (( (þ \ :7 1 s;' ' n ø 6 ,. - :g-- l "1;I? htch commandment are they up to?" . . ('Leave it be. We'll sit by the light of the tree for awhIle." The patients began finding chairs. Miss Strasser nodded to Karl and picked up her plectrum again "A ch, now ve play de Mendelssohn, ja?" Karl said joyfully. He nodded and smIled to his wife, who had come and stood leaning against the doorway into the living room, a bulky figure beaming in the flickering light. " 'Hark! the herald angels sing,' " Miss Strasser began, and by the middle of the first verse most of the patients had summoned the courage to join in. Miss Hughes went over to the WIn- dow and stood looking down into the candlelit world within the wooden box. The animals whose habitation was the scene for the tiny, eternal event in time stood around its outer edges; human witnesses, the simple and the very wise, were ranged in an inner ring; and in the center a mortal mother sat united with her immortal child. Suddenl) Miss Hughes had the feeling that Christmas, to which she had looked forward with such anticipation, had in fact already come, last Saturday. What was It I realized that afternoon in the barn, she asked herself. But for the life of her she could not rememher. " '. . . the everlasting Lord,' " sang . The Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, fea- turing four headlights, the first air sus- pension system on an American car and a 325-horsepower engine, was announced yesterday by the Cadillac division of Gen- eral Motors Corp.... The Brougham (rhymes with home) was designed in 1954 as Cadillac's "dream car" for the 1955 General Motors Motorama.... It fea- tures pillarless four-door styling and an over-all height of only 5.55 inches.- T he Herald Tribune. Rhymes with pinches.


MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The family of a man shot to death at a Whitehaven apartment complex is opening up after his accused killer was arrested.
Eric Monger, 26, was gunned down at the New Horizon Apartments on Thursday.
Terry Moton, 18, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree murder.
One of Monger's loved ones agreed to speak to WREG under the condition we not show his face or use his name.
He said the family knew Moton well, and that he had spent a lot of time with them.
“[He's] a child himself. Don’t even know what he’s done," he said. "All because of guns that you could replace."
Investigators say Moton shot and killed Monger, a father of five, because he thought he had stolen his 9-mm handgun.
Monger's loved ones were at the complex Thursday when police say Moton gunned him down as he was leaving his ex-girlfriend's apartment.
Monger’s kids were also inside when it happened, and loved ones say one of his daughters saw her father laying dead on the ground after he was shot.
“One of the older ones said, ‘That’s my daddy,'" he said.
That same day, Moton was indicted on an assault charge from November.
And Monger himself had a lengthy criminal past. His family says he had just been released from jail two weeks ago after serving three months on a probation violation charge.
But his family says, despite that, he was a good person and a great father.
“He was good father. He loved his three kids and he loved his baby mama," Monger's children's aunt said. "He was like family to us."
And she says his murder has the entire family living in fear.
New Horizon Apartments has a history of problems, including at least three shootings last year and another last month that killed a 41-year-old man.
As for Moton, he’s being held in jail without bond.
He will make his first court appearance Monday morning.


SMALL businesses have been left in the lurch by Government officials who promised to help them prepare for tough new EU data law, The Sun can reveal.
A hotline for entrepreneurs has gone into meltdown - with callers facing a wait of up to half an hour and officials urging businesses NOT to contact them for help.
Bosses of small firms are having “sleepless nights” worrying about the new rules on data handling, known as GDPR, with business lobbies slamming the “sorry situation”.
The law - coming into effect in May - makes it illegal for companies to contact most customers without their explicit consent and imposes fines as large as £18million on firms which break it.
Four months ago, the Information Commissioner’s Office announced it was setting up a dedicated helpline for small firms worried about adapting to GDPR.
But business sources told The Sun they’ve had to wait up to half an hour on hold before getting through to the Government body.
The ICO admitted the helpline has been overwhelmed - and said anyone who needs help fast should get it online or speak to an industry group instead of calling the official advice service.
A spokesman said: “We’d like to apologise to callers who are having to wait longer than we’d like. The SME helplines have been extremely busy.
Sales consultant Antonio Falco, who advises firms under the title “The Sales Director”, said he was worried GDPR would wipe out his business.
Mr Falco said he eventually realised that most of his work could continue - but warned that other firms would struggle because of the lack of official information available.
A survey by the Federation of Small Businesses found the average firm has to pay more than £1,000 to get ready for GDPR, along with an annual cost of £1,500 to comply with data laws.
FSB chairman Mike Cherry said: “As the deadline approaches, all eyes will be on the Information Commissioner’s Office and whether or not they can successfully deal with the increase in small businesses trying to get help and support.


Erdogan's adviser says his country will cut ties with Israel in response to Trump's recognition of Jerusalem.
Yasin Aktay, an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel would have a direct and negative impact on Turkey's relations with Israel.
In an interview with the Hamas daily Al-Risala, Aktay said that Turkey intends to sever the diplomatic relations with Israel in response to Trump’s declaration, which he called "aggression against Palestinian rights and complicity with the crime of the occupation."
"The United States plays a hostile role against the Palestinians - and today it committed a political and moral crime that cannot be reconciled with it at all," said Aktay.
He further claimed that the U.S. decision would lead to the exclusion of the United States from the peace process.
"Every Islamic and Arab country that participated with Washington in this decision," said Aktay, "will lose its legitimacy because it chose to join with injustice and aggression against the Palestinian rights."
Education Minister Naftali Bennett pushed back against Erdogan’s threats on Tuesday.
“There will always be those who criticize, but in the end, a united Jerusalem is preferable to the love of Erdogan,” he added.


Harold Martin Smith is said to have not had a conspiracy to kill Ronni Chasen.
Police say evidence shows an ex-con acted alone in gunning down Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen.
Beverly Hills Police Chief David Snowden tells The Associated Press that Harold Martin Smith, a 43-year-old career criminal, was the person who shot Chasen last November as she attempted to make a turn at an intersection.
He adds there was no conspiracy to kill her.
Snowden said late Wednesday the case will be wrapped up in the next couple of weeks.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2011: The Winners!
Police had looked at the possibility that Chasen was targeted by a hit man, but a tip to the show "America's Most Wanted" led detectives to Smith.
Smith killed himself when police tried to question him.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2011: One Shoulder Gowns!
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2011: Hottest Red Carpet Couples!


BMW says that the car it intends to field with self-driving tech by 2021 will have Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5 capabilities, according to the automaker’s SVP of Autonomous Driving Elmar Frickenstein, who shared the info during a panel in Berlin on Thursday, Reuters reports. Level 5 autonomy would mean that the vehicle requires zero input from a driver to navigate city and highway roads, at least on par in terms of performance with a human driver.
Level 3 and 4 are considered much more achievable in the near-term: Level 3 cars still require drivers, but their intervention is only required in certain situations and they aren’t obliged to be watching things constantly and ready to take control immediately as with lower levels. Level 4 is the first level of “full autonomy,” which means it can handle a whole trip – just not in all possible conditions and environments.
Most automakers talking about autonomous vehicle deployment plans in the next few years are discussing Level 3 and 4 vehicles – Ford’s goal of putting a fleet of self-driving cars into service in 2021 specifically involves Level 4 autonomy, for instance. BMW’s decision to leapfrog to the most advanced level is ambitious, but it’s working with Intel and that chipmaker’s newly acquired self-driving hardware and systems subsidiary Mobileye on its autonomous tech, so it’s definitely not starting from a dead stop.


ISLAMABAD, Jan 30 (APP): The Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, Monday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to regional cooperation under the umbrella of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for acceleration of economic and commercial growth.
Talking to a delegation of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) led by President of the SCCI , Suraj Vaidya who called on him here the Adviser recognized the efforts of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry in promoting economic, trade and investment linkages across the region.
He underscored Pakistan’s support for enhancement of trade and business amongst the countries of the SAARC region.
The President of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry appreciated the positive approach Pakistan has been following to strengthen regional cooperation under the SAARC process.
He assured the commitment of SAARC Chamber of Commerce in further strengthening the SAARC.
The SCCI delegation is visiting Lahore and Islamabad for Pakistani component of its 68th Executive Committee Meeting after having met in Amritsar on January 26-27,2017.


ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) A movie about the late Northern State University men's basketball coach Don Meyer is coming out on video this year.
The Aberdeen American News (http://bit.ly/29mCfAP ) reports that a news release from entertainment production and distribution company Herohelix says ''My Many Sons'' will be distributed in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The film chronicles Meyer's career. He died in 2014 after being diagnosed with cancer.
Meyer was one of the winningest coaches in college basketball history. He led his teams into the playoffs 19 times and compiled a 923-324 record during his 38-year career, most of which he spent at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, and at Northern State in Aberdeen, South Dakota.


Dartmouth YMCA: Offers several adult fitness classes, including yoga, pilates, senior stretch, zumba, cardio kickboxing, boot camp and more. For information or to reserve a coupon to attend a class for free, contact Brittany Lestage at (508) 993-3361 or blestage@ymcasouthcoast.org. Gulf Road, Dartmouth.
Fairhaven Recreation Department: Zumba drop-in, 5-6 p.m. Mondays, registration not required, $7, $5 members. (508) 993-9269. http://fairhavenma.virtualtownhall.net (click on "Departments" for Recreation). 227 Huttleston Ave., Fairhaven.
Light Yoga-Deep Meditation: Weekly class including chanting, breathwork, gentle pose sequences, mindfulness techniques and meditation, 6-6:45 p.m. Sundays for four weeks starting June 7. $10 per class or $30 for all four classes; discount for teens. To register, call Stephanie Lawrence at (508) 990-2346 or register before any class. Bring a mat or towel. Unitarian Memorial Church, 102 Green St., Fairhaven.
Morning of Wellness: Hosted by the Mattapoisett Council on Aging, 9 a.m.-noon June 3 at the Mattapoisett Social and Wellness Center in the Center School. Free event features healthy breakfast refreshments; entertainment starting at 11 a.m.; information and resources from non-profit organizations including the Diabetes Association, Alzheimers Association and Encore; photo IDs from the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department; emergency food packages for elders from Coastline Elderly Servies; more. 17 Barstow St., Mattapoisett.
Express workouts: Noon-12:30 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Gleason Family YMCA. $5 per class; members free; no pre-registration required. (508) 295-9622. 33 Charge Pond Road, Wareham.
Healthy Lifestyle Fair: Presented by the Wareham Council of Aging and the Friends of Wareham Elderly, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. June 6 at the Multi Service Center, features information and resources, live jazz, more. 48 Marion Road, Wareham.
La Leche League: Free mother-to-mother support for women who are breastfeeding their children. Group meets 6:30-8:30 p.m. third Mondays in Wareham Nurse Midwives office. Kim Walsh, (508) 763-0051. 322 Main Street, Wareham.
Diabetes Management Classes: Offered at three sites by Southcoast Hospitals Group Diabetes Management Program, for people with Types 1 and 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes mellitus. Cost varies, depending on insurance coverage. For details call Charlton Memorial Hospital, Fall River, (508) 679-7143; St. Luke's Hospital, New Bedford, (508) 994-4415, or Tobey Hospital, Wareham, (508) 273-4173.
Free blood pressure and health counseling: Offered by Community Nurse and Hospice Care, 2-3 p.m. Tuesdays at Fairhaven Town Hall, 40 Centre St., Fairhaven; 9 a.m. first Tuesdays at Oxford Terrace Housing Complex, Fairhaven; 10 a.m. first Tuesdays at McGann Housing Complex, Fairhaven; 10:30-11:30 a.m. first/third Wednesdays at the Fairhaven n on Aging; 9-10 a.m. Wednesdays at Acushnet Council on Aging, South Main Street, Acushnet; and 9-10 a.m. Fridays at Dartmouth Council on Aging, Dartmouth Street, Dartmouth. (508) 992-6278.
Free vascular screenings: Southcoast Hospitals Group is sponsoring a series of basic vascular screenings to detect PVD (peripheral vascular disease), 5-7 p.m. June 2 and June 9 at St. Luke's Hospital, off main lobby, 101 Page St., New Bedford; 5-7 p.m. May 28 and June 10 on the Southcoast Health Van at Charlton Memorial Hospital, main entrance, 363 Highland Ave., Fall River; and 5-7 p.m. June 11 on the Southcoast Health Van at Tobey Hospital, 43 High St., Wareham. Appointments required; no walk-ins accepted. (800) 497-1727.
Greater New Bedford Community Health Center: HIV Medication Adherence Support Group, 2-3 p.m. Thursdays. (508) 992-6553, Ext. 155. www.gnbchc.org. 874 Purchase St., New Bedford.
Overeaters Anonymous: Meets 6:30-7:30 p.m. Mondays at First Church of the Nazarene. Jackie, (508) 997-2265. 764 Hathaway Road, New Bedford.
Diocesan Divorced and Separated Support Group: Meets 7-8:30 p.m. second/last Wednesdays. On June 10, guest speaker will be Dr. David Hughes on "Identifying Your Need Profile for Future Relationships." Discussion will follow; refreshments available. Call Scottie or Jerry Foley, (508) 999-6420, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Bob Menard at (508) 673-2997 or (508) 965-2919; or Joanne Dupre at (508) 965-9296. Diocesan Family Life Center, 500 Slocum Road, Dartmouth.
Caregivers education and support group: Sponsored by Community Nurse & Hospice Care, 1-2 p.m. first Wednesdays at Fairhaven Council on Aging. Patricia Midurski, (508) 996-0368. 229 Huttleston Ave., Fairhaven.
Widows, Widowers support group: Meets 5:30-7 p.m. Thursdays from May 28-July 2 at Southcoast Home Care Services, Hospice & Infusion. Visitors may attend one session or all six. Registration: Catherine Wrobel at (508) 984-0202. Fairhaven.
Depression/Bi-Polar Support Groups: Meets 6:30-7:30 p.m. first Thursdays at the Wareham Free Library. Tom, (508) 295-3286. Marion Road, Wareham.
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA): Meet 7-8 p.m. Tuesdays at the Church of the Good Shepherd, 74 High St. (lower rear), Wareham; 6:30 p.m.-8 Sundays at Family Life Center, 500 Slocum Road, North Dartmouth; and 6:30-8 p.m. Thursdays at Oxford Terrace Housing, 275 Main St., Fairhaven. (781) 321-9118. www.foodaddicts.org.


Chairman Pat Breen is leading a delegation of the Joint Oireachtas (Irish parliament) Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade on a visit to Washington D.C. today. The group is holding a series of meetings with influential members of Congress in the hope of encouraging comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S.
According to the Irish Embassy in Washington, the Irish Ambassador to the United States Anne Anderson will also accompany the delegation at each of their high levels meetings with predominantly Republican Congress members.
Breen told the Irish Voice: “It’s an opportunity to lobby our U.S. counterparts to garner bipartisan support for the immigration reform legislation.
“We’re targeting Republican Congress members because at the moment there is a high degree of uncertainty among them as regards their capacity to engage in immigration issues,” Breen added.
The cross party delegation includes Deputies Sean Crowe (Sinn Fein), Gerald Nash (Labour) and Senator Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) as well as Chairman Breen (Fine Gael).
Breen says he’s well aware of the positive impact the reform of U.S. immigration laws could have on the tens of thousands of Irish men and women who are currently in the country undocumented.
The delegation have scheduled a series of meetings with key figures from the House of Representatives including Congressman Paul Ryan, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, Congressman Trey Gowdy, Immigration Sub-Committee Chair Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Immigration Subcommittee Member Congressman Mark Amodei, Immigration Subcommittee Member Congressman Jim Jordan, Immigration Subcommittee Member Congressman Mick Mulvaney, Congressman Peter King, Congressman Richard Neal, and Friends of Ireland Caucus Congressman Chris Smith.
The Irish delegation hopes that it can persuade the predominantly Republican members of Congress to support legislation to legalize the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish and create a new E3 visa to allow 10,500 Irish to work legally in the country every year.
On Thursday the delegation will meet at the White House with senior officials from President Obama’s Immigration Policy team and the Offices of Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
The human cost of the being undocumented in the U.S. rarely gets a hearing but Breen says it is very much on his mind, and he cites a local example.


DECATUR, GA (WXIA) -- The family of a DeKalb County man shot and killed by police has convinced the district attorney to keep the case open.
The attorney for the siblings of Kevin Davis insists the civil grand jury that met last week did not hear all the evidence in the case.
Davis’ family members asked for this sit-down with DA Robert James, and they emerged from the DeKalb County Courthouse Thursday afternoon feeling – in their words -- cautiously optimistic.
“We miss our brother, we know he didn't deserve what happened to him,” said Davis’ sister, Delisa Davis.
Despite the civil grand jury's recommendation to close the case, the family of 44 year-old Kevin Davis has apparently convinced the DeKalb district attorney to keep investigating his death. Almost one year ago, Kevin Davis called 911 to report that his girlfriend had been stabbed by a roommate who then ran from the apartment.
He stayed on the line to help treat her, then heard gunshots outside.
DeKalb County Police Officer Joseph Pitts had arrived and shot Davis' dog. Davis retrieved his gun and went to the front door, thinking the attacker had returned.
Police say Officer Pitts ordered Davis to drop his weapon. Prosecutors say 16 seconds later, Pitts shot Davis, who later died.
The Davis family attorney believes there is more evidence out there.
Even though the civil grand jury recommended the DA not indict the officer for the shooting, it is not legally binding. Ultimately, the decision is up to the district attorney as to whether or not to charge the officer.


Seattle sits first overall for the first time since March 23, 2012. After spending 17 weeks outside of the playoff picture, Sounders FC catapulted to the top spot, taking 24 of the past 27 possible points. The No. 1 ranking is the highest position Seattle has held this late in a season, and the club is just the third team in league history to erase a 15-point deficit to gain first overall.
The Rave Green now shifts its focus to the Western Conference clash on Saturday night in Los Angeles. Already holders of the longest winning streak of the season at five games, Seattle could set the club record with a win against the Galaxy. A victory on Saturday would also mark the most road wins (6) in MLS this season.
The LA Galaxy (13-10-5, 44 points) sit fourth in the West after a 2-2 road draw against D.C. United on Saturday. The Galaxy attack is led by Robbie Keane, who has six goals and two assists in the past four games, and Landon Donovan, who is two goals from matching Jeff Cunningham's league record of 134 career goals.
Los Angeles hosts Isidro Metapan on Wednesday night in CONCACAF Champions League play. The Galaxy currently sit second in Group 8 but has played just one game, winning 2-0 against Cartagines last month.
Saturday's meeting is the second of the season between Seattle and Los Angeles. In the previous meeting, the Galaxy downed Sounders FC, 4-0, on May 26. The third and final meeting of the season will be the regular-season finale on October 27 when Sounders FC will open the entire stadium.
Following Saturday's match, Sounders FC will return to the Pacific Northwest for a Sunday meeting with the New York Red Bulls. Seattle will then play five matches in October to conclude the regular-season campaign, including home games against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC (October 9) and the LA Galaxy (October 27).
Tickets to all remaining Sounders FC home matches are available through SoundersFC.com, all Ticketmaster Outlets, the CenturyLink Field Box Office or by calling 800-745-3000.
Seattle and LA Meet for 17th TimeSaturday's match between Seattle and LA will be the 17th meeting between the two sides since the beginning of 2009, matching the club record. Over the past five seasons, the two sides have met 10 times in the regular season, four times in the MLS Cup Playoffs and twice in the U.S. Open Cup. Seattle is 3-5-2 all-time in the regular season and 1-3-0 in the playoffs against the Galaxy. The Rave Green won the first two meetings of 2012 by a combined score of 6-0, only to see Los Angles win the two regular-season meetings since by a combined score of 5-0, including a 4-0 loss in the previous meeting.
Sounders FC is 1-3-0 against Los Angeles in the postseason, meeting in the MLS Cup Playoffs in 2010 and 2012. The Galaxy took a 3-0 lead in the first leg of the 2012 Western Conference Finals before Seattle battled back in the second leg, pulling within one goal on aggregate before Robbie Keane converted a penalty kick to help LA back to the MLS Cup final.
Clash of National Team StarsSaturday's Seattle-LA matchup will feature several international stars. In addition to Seattle's Eddie Johnson, Clint Dempsey and Brad Evans, the Galaxy's attack is led by U.S. legend Landon Donovan and Irish captain Robbie Keane, and USMNT center back Omar Gonzalez shores up the backline.
Donovan-the USMNT all-time leader in starts, goals and assists-is second on the Galaxy with eight goals and eight assists in 2013, including six goals and five assists in his last nine appearances, highlighted by a hat trick against Dallas on August 11. With 132 career goals, the 31-year-old is two goals shy of Jeff Cunningham's all-time MLS record. Donovan's next game will be the 300th of his MLS career.
Keane, one of the league's most prolific strikers, ranks in the top five with 13 goals (4th) and 11 assists (3rd) in just 17 games this season. Arguably the most efficient attacker in MLS, his 0.78 goals per 90 minutes ranks second and his 0.66 assists per 90 minutes ranks first. The 33-year-old has 31 goals and 21 assists in just 49 games since joining the league late in 2011.


Facebook has hired a former aide to Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsForget the spin: Five unrefuted Mueller Report revelations Sessions: It's time to accept the results of the Mueller report and move on Trump poised to roll back transgender health protections MORE to serve as the company’s director of executive branch public policy, Axios reported Thursday.
Sandy Luff was the legislative director of Sessions’s Senate office before the Alabama Republican was tapped as the Trump administration’s top law enforcement official earlier this year. Luff was also on President Trump's transition team.
Facebook also hired Nu Wexler, a former Democratic congressional communications aide who had been working in Twitter’s PR shop until March, Axios reported.
Facebook appears to be trying to increase its influence with the Trump administration. Sessions has been one of President Trump’s closest advisers, and his earliest supporter in Congress during the campaign.
"Sandy's experience and understanding of the political landscape will make her an invaluable asset to our team. We are excited to have her aboard," Facebook's vice president of U.S. public policy, Greg Maurer, said in a statement.


MONTREAL – The bells of an Italian Renaissance-style church in Montreal chimed softly Saturday as pallbearers carried the gold coffin of the son of the reputed head of Canada's most powerful Mafia family.
There was a heavy police presence in the city's Little Italy neighborhood at the funeral service for Nick Rizzuto, the son of Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto.
Nick was standing next to a black Mercedes last Monday when a gunman approached and fired several shots, killing him. Police have not yet arrested the unidentified gunman.
Most of the mourners at Notre-Dame-de-la Defense church remained tightlipped as they filed out of the church, refusing to speak to reporters assembled outside.
Family friend Ricardo Padulo recalled the younger Rizzuto as "a gentleman."
"This turnout shows respect," Padulo said. "In the eye of God he's a great person. It was a beautiful service."
Vito Rizzuto, who is serving a sentence in Colorado for racketeering related to three Mafia murders, was not seen at the funeral. The victim's grandfather and namesake Nicolo Rizzuto Sr. was there.
During the service, the priest, dressed in fuchsia robes, addressed the somber crowd in Italian.
One burly man angrily ushered journalists out of the church after they tried to enter to watch the proceedings.


Results focused graduate account manager needed for growing sports brand.
The client is the most innovative and progressive mouthguard company in the world with associations with national sporting body's around the world including the sports of Rugby, Field Hockey and Taekwondo.
Founded by a former dentist, the company grew out of his belief that all children should have the best possible protection during sport for their teeth and gums. They now supply over 1,000 schools and clubs nationwide with Custom-Fit mouthguards, which are made in their Hemel Hempstead laboratory.
Each guard is created through innovation and technical expertise lie at the heart of everything they do.
The company is spilt into three areas and this role fits within the retail department and purely focuses on custom mouthguards.
The Account Manager will work within the Customs department managing 650 school and club account alongside one other person. The work will be varied but focusing on maintaining existing relationships with school all around the UK. You will report directly to the Custom Admin Manager and work closely with the Custom Admin team.
There is a lot of logistics within this role liaising and organising the dental team who go into the school and create the impressions for the mouthguards.
Liaising with schools and clubs to organise their dental visits. This may include, but is not limited to, drafting/redrafting personalised letters, coordinating mail outs, processing dental booking requests and handling customer satisfaction questionnaire responses.
Scheduling and attending PR visits with schools in addition to conducting telephone/email PRs if appropriate.
Offering aftercare support for schools and individual customers following their visits and the manufacture of their mouthguards.
Booking dentists for visits; liaising with dentists and dealing with queries.
Customer service: Answering enquiries from prospective and existing customers, including school staff, individuals and sponsorship accounts as well as dental administrative contractors.
Managing sponsorship orders, including entry of orders, dispatch of impression kits, preparing impressions to be logged in, dealing with queries/requests for remakes/failed impressions and requesting models.
Offering support to other members of the OPRO Custom team and wider company.
Motivated, hardworking, diligent and well organised.
Ability to remain focused and to demonstrate excellent attention to detail, performing well under pressure.
Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, including a clear and coherent telephone manner.
This is a company that is low in bureaucracy and high in excitement. They fully commit to the training and development of all staff. They offer an exciting and unique opportunity for all members of the team to contribute to the shaping and growing of the company.


APRIL 6: Women’s Institute and Gallery: 916 E. Granary St., New Harmony, “Recent Work” by Mary Ann Michna and Martha Kaplan, through April 30 (artist reception, 4-7 p.m. April 8 during the Spring Gallery Stroll). Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday or by appointment. Call 812-682-3799.
APRIL 6: Audubon Museum, Henderson, Kentucky, "March Madness" Invitational Exhibit, through April 9; "A Fresh Perspective," April 19 through July 5. 270-827-1893.
APRIL 8: Moonlight Walk at the Cathedral Labyrinth, New Harmony. 812-682-3935.
APRIL 8-9: Heritage Federal Credit Union Home Show, Old National Events Plaza, 715 Locust St., Evansville, presented by the Evansville Courier & Press. courierpressexpos.com.
JUNE 17-SEPT. 16: Franklin Street Bazaar, Franklin Street Events Association, Evansville. Open every Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Vendors offering produce, art, crafts, homemade baked goods and food.
JUNE 21: Komen Evansville Race for the Cure Team Captain Kickoff: Eastland Mall, Evansville.
JULY 22, AUG. 19, SEPT. 16, OCT. 28: Free Family Movie Nights, 8:30 p.m., Lou Dennis Community Park, Newburgh.
AUG. 19: Survivor Breakfast, 8 a.m., Old National Events Plaza, Evansville. Presented by Susan G. Komen Evansville Tri-State. 812-962-2202 or komenevansville.org. All breast cancer survivors are welcome.
OCT. 7-8: Lions Arts & Crafts Festival, Audubon State Park, U.S. 41 North, Henderson, Kentucky. lionsartsandcrafts.com.
DEC. 2-3: Historic Newburgh Celebrates Christmas. 812-853-2815 or historicnewburgh.org.
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A powerful new broadcaster for the DISH Network satellite television system was successfully shot into space today aboard a multi-national Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket.
The booster began its hour-long ascent carrying the EchoStar 11 spacecraft at 0520:59 GMT (1:20:59 a.m. EDT), roaring skyward shortly after sunset trailing the flickering flames from its four-nozzle first stage engine.
The 20-story, million-pound rocket pitched eastward and headed downrange from the Odyssey launch pad, a floating platform positioned in equatorial waters of the Pacific, about 1,400 miles south of Hawaii.
The two Ukrainian-made lower stages of the Zenit performed their firings to propel the Russian Block DM-SL upper stage and satellite out of the atmosphere during the initial eight-and-a-half minutes of flight.
The upper stage then took over, completing an initial engine burn to reach a preliminary orbit less than 14 minutes after launch. The rocket coasted for a half-hour, flying over South America, before re-igniting for a seven-minute firing to accelerate the payload into an elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit with a high point of 22,149 miles and low point of 466 miles.
Restraints holding the 12,150-pound satellite to the spent rocket motor were released over the western Indian Ocean, allowing the payload to separate and begin its 15-year mission in space.
"What a great launch," said Kjell Karlsen, the newly appointed president and general manager of Sea Launch. "This is my first launch as president. My knees are still shaking."
The satellite will use an onboard engine to reach a circular geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above the equator where it can match Earth's rotation and seem parked over one spot of the globe. Its final destination will be the slot at 110 degrees West longitude to cover the United States.
Built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, California, the craft is equipped with Ku-band transponders to relay direct-to-home TV programming for DISH Network.
"EchoStar 11 is a powerful 20-kW satellite, designed to expand capacity for DISH Network," said John Celli, president and chief operating officer of Space Systems/Loral.
"The real significance of this satellite for us is it's truly going to add a lot of capability," said Rohan Zaveri, vice president of space programs for DISH Network. "What we are really going to get is the ability to deliver more programming, more choices to our customers. We are going to do that because the satellite actually has the ability give us more power."
"At Space Systems/Loral, we are the leader in high-power satellite technology. So this is one of the prime examples of how the high-power aspects of a satellite, as well as the high-performance payload, benefit an application like direct broadcasting of TV signals," said Hampton Chan, Space Systems/Loral's executive director of advanced programs and space systems.
DISH customers are anxiously awaiting the new satellite's entrance into service. Earlier this year, the AMERICOM 14 spacecraft that would have provided its capacity to the direct broadcast system under a lease deal was lost in a Russian Proton rocket failure.
But today's rocket flight appeared smooth, and ground controllers established contact with EchoStar 11 via a tracking station in Australia right as planned. It marked the third time Sea Launch had deployed an EchoStar satellite, following EchoStar 9 in 2003 and EchoStar 10 in 2006.
"We're proud of our role in DISH Network's continued success. We thank you for your continued trust and confidence in our system and our team," Karlsen said.
Spaceflight Now visited Sea Launch one week before Odyssey set sail to begin the EchoStar 11 launch campaign. See our exclusive photo galley here and an overview of Sea Launch operations here.
This is a busy year for Sea Launch, now having completed four flights and another two slated to occur in the coming months. Next up will be the launch of the Galaxy 19 telecommunications satellite for Intelsat.
In addition, officials anticipate conducting one or two missions using the company's Land Launch subsidiary from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan by year's end.


ATLANTA (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, Eric Bledsoe added 24 points and 10 assists, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Hawks 133-114 on Sunday in Mike Budenholzer's return to Atlanta.
Khris Middleton finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to help the Bucks improve to 30-12, second-best in the NBA. Coming off a loss at Washington that Antetokounmpo missed with injuries, Milwaukee is 12-0 following a defeat and remained the league's only team not to drop consecutive games.
Budenholzer, making his first appearance at State Farm Arena since leaving the Hawks after last season, said before the game that he wished his former team well as it rebuilds with youngsters John Collins, Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman.
The Bucks are soaring, thanks mostly to the 6-foot-11, 242-pound Antetokounmpo, who scored 14 on free throws and had two dazzling assists early in the fourth. He first smothered Young to steal the ball and feed George Hill for a 3-pointer that made it 104-90, before adding a no-look drop pass on D.J. Wilson's layup for a 16-point lead. He later hit a couple of jumpers to make it a 15-point advantage.
Bucks: Antetokounmpo did a postgame jersey exchange with 41-year-old Hawks F Vince Carter. ... G Malcolm Brogdon scored 14 points and missed just his second free throw in 86 free-throw attempts this season. ... Middleton began the day averaging 20.4 points over his previous eight games.
Al Horford and Paul Millsap, two model team leaders, left as free agents after the Hawks decided not to trade them. In between those gaffes, the team signed mercurial center Dwight Howard to a three-year, $70.5 million contract and was dealt away after one ill-fit season.


Championship side Barnsley have signed striker Tom Bradshaw from Walsall on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
Bradshaw had a transfer request accepted by the Saddlers on Wednesday and has passed a medical at Oakwell.
The 23-year-old won his first Wales cap in a friendly against Ukraine in March, but did not make their Euro 2016 squad after suffering a calf injury.
"Tom will fit in well with our playing philosophy," Tykes boss Paul Heckingbottom told the club website.
He had one year left to run on his contract at Walsall, who he joined from Shrewsbury in June 2014.
He scored 20 goals for the Saddlers last season as they were beaten by Barnsley in the League One play-offs.


Kindsight reports that 8.7 per cent of all covered home networks experienced a malware infection during the quarter. That's down from 9.6 per cent the previous quarter, but wow, it still must represent a lot of infections.
The infection rate for mobile devices is up from last quarter, to 0.55 per cent. That figure may seem low, but Kindsight estimates that it represents 11.6 million mobile devices infected with malware at any given time. Over 60 per cent of those are Android devices.
At the start of 2013, Windows devices with a mobile connection made up over 60 per cent of the infected mobile devices detected by Kindsight. By the end of the year, Android had taken the lead, and not just by a little bit. December's figures show Android at well over 60 per cent of the total. As for BlackBerry, iOS, Symbian, and Windows Phone, well, taken all together they still don't come to one per cent of the total.
The report calls Android "the Windows XP of mobile," and notes several reasons that Android is the preferred platform for mobile malware. First, it has the biggest mobile market share, and hence the biggest number of potential victims. Second, users can load any program on an Android device if they're willing to use a non-approved app store. Third, Trojanising an Android app is ridiculously simple. I can attest to that; I've seen it done in less than five minutes.
The number of Android malware samples in Kindsight's database grew by a factor of 20 during 2013. However, that doesn't actually mean there are 20 times as many distinct malicious payloads. Trojanised apps are by far the most common type of Android malware. To get maximum coverage, an attacker will add precisely the same malicious code to as many apps as possible. The report states: "Often we will discover a third-party app store distributing a single malware type disguised as hundreds of different wallpaper apps."
The report does note that generally speaking, mobile malware seriously lags behind Windows malware in terms of sophistication, stating that: "A lot of Android malware is currently fairly naïve and simplistic in its design and operation." Many Windows-based botnets can "rally" to a new command and control server if their existing one gets knocked offline. Some, like ZeroAccess and GameOver Zeus, transmit commands via peer-to-peer networks, with no central server. Mobile botnets, on the other hand, tend to use a single, hard-coded IP address for command and control. Take out that server and the botnet is dead.
The full report, available to download here, offers more information than I can begin to summarise. It charts the most common infestations for home networks and Android devices, for example, and separately charts those with a high threat level. It describes the more interesting ones in detail.
What's coming in 2014? Kindsight suggests that cyber-crooks will move to mobile malware only if they can see a profit in it, either due to new opportunities opening or old cash sources drying up. Mobile malware can be incredibly useful in advanced persistent threat attacks or cyber-espionage. Plant a spy app on a victim's phone and you can track him anywhere, slurp down personal info, and circumvent network security at his workplace.
Mobile danger doesn't have to come in the form of malware. "Imagine an underground hacktivism organisation that provided their own app for Android and iPhone," suggests the report. Its authors go so far as to posit an "Occupy the Internet" movement. Will it happen? We'll certainly find out.


Casey's is fifth largest pizza chain in U.S.
It sells more than 19 million whole freshly made pizzas a year along with 62 million individual slices.
Editor's note: The numbers of pizzas sold each year has been updated from an earlier version of this story.
For more than 57 years, Casey's has been selling gas, cigarettes and soda pop from its chain of stores best known by the folksy red roofed logo with the rooster wind vane and its simple commercials.
Then in 1984 it hit on a jackpot: pizza.
The company is the fifth largest pizza chain in the U.S. It sells more than 19 million whole freshly made pizzas a year along with 62 million individual slices. It’s been a growing part of the company since it was first introduced.
“When we look at competition, it’s not just the convenience store competition, but because we are so prevalent in the food service industry, we compete against quick service restaurants and other pizza chains as well,” said William Walljasper, Casey’s senior vice president and chief financial officer.
As of January, its latest innovation — online pizza ordering — is available at all of Casey's 1,911 stores in 14 states.
“People can order a pizza, breadsticks or chicken wings online and if the store has the capability (about 400 do) they can have it delivered or they can pick it up,” Walljasper said.
Casey’s is one of 16 convenience store chains identified as "food forward" by offering a diverse and quality selection of freshly prepared foods, said Bonnie Riggs, restaurant industry analyst with NPD Group, a consumer research company. Competitors like QuikTrip and Kum & Go also are amping up their prepared food offerings.
Casey’s launched a mobile app for ordering pizza that also includes games and a trip planner. “So if you’re traveling in the Midwest and you want to see the Casey’s stores between you and your destination, you can tap on that and see the fuel prices,” Walljasper said.
The app also allows Casey’s to send instant coupons to customers while they are pumping gas to use in the store, he said.