Starting Tuesday, travellers from Europe, the Middle East and Africa will have to provide fingerprints and photos when they apply to visit, work or study in Canada, if they don’t want to be turned away at the border.
Currently, foreign nationals are required to obtain pre-authorization to travel to Canada by air, and the biometric check on arrival is an extra step to confirm a person seeking admission is really the same pre-screened individual on the travel documents.
“Biometric screening has proven effective in protecting the safety and security of Canadians and the integrity of the immigration system. Systematic fingerprint verification allows border service officers to confirm a traveller’s identity,” said Immigration Department spokesperson Shannon Kerr.
“Biometric screening has also made it easier to identify known criminals at the earliest opportunity in order to prevent them from coming to Canada. It has made it more difficult for others to forge, steal or use another person’s identity to gain access to Canada,” Kerr added.
Since 2013, personal biometric information has been required of tourists, students and foreign workers from 29 countries including Afghanistan, Burma, Congo, Haiti, Sudan and Syria, as well as the Palestinian territories — all places where many refugees originate and the use of fraudulent travel documents is rampant.
In addition, permanent residency applicants from these countries and territory, as well as refugees and overseas refugee resettlement applicants were required to undergo biometric screening. The rule will extend to visitors from Asia, the Asia-Pacific region and the Americas on Dec. 31, when the biometric plan will be fully implemented.
“Expanding the collection and verification of biometrics to more applicants will strengthen immigration and border screening processes by confirming a person’s identity,” said Kerr.
Since the requirement rolled out in 2013, Canada has collected biometric information from 1,066,806 students, foreign workers and tourists, resulting in matches to 760 Canadian criminal records, 1,951 previous asylum claimants and 157,105 previous immigration applicants, said Kerr.
The fingerprints, stored by the RCMP in the “national repository,” are valid for 10 years and must be renewed when they expire.
Visa-exempted nationals coming to Canada as tourists who hold a valid electronic travel authorization from Ottawa.
Children under 14 or applicants over 79.
Heads of state and government.
Foreign nationals travelling to Canada must go to a Canadian visa application centre and pay a fee of $85 per person — or $170 for families — to cover the collection of fingerprints and a photograph. The centre is responsible for transmitting the records to and from the immigration offices.
At airports and land ports of entry, the Canada Border Services Agency will check a visitor’s fingerprints against the record submitted by the visa centre in its database. Automatic fingerprint verification is available at eight major airports: Toronto Pearson, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Pierre Elliott Trudeau in Montreal, and Halifax.
Authorities can deny entry to people with unmatched fingerprints, detain them and send them back.
The biometrics initiative is part of a joint border security information-sharing arrangement with the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.
Both the U.S. and Australia require fingerprints and a photograph from visiting foreign nationals, except Canadians. In the U.K., foreign nationals from outside the European Economic Area have to apply for what’s known as a biometric residence permit, while New Zealand currently requires the biometrics of asylum seekers, refugees applying for resettlement and deportees.
Biometrics are not required of Americans applying for work or study permits and coming to Canada as tourists.
Correction - July 31, 2018: This article was updated from a previous version that said all permanent residency applicants and those seeking asylum within Canada, regardless of their country of origin, are already required to undergo biometric screening. In fact, prior to July 31, permanent residency applicants from 29 countries and one territory, as well as refugees and overseas refugee resettlement applicants were required to undergo biometric screening.


Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had just declared victory in the Nevada caucuses when most campaign reporters heard Jeffrey Berman’s voice for the first and only time.
Berman, Sen. Barack Obama’s director of delegate selection, chimed in during a conference call with the media to make an unexpected case: Despite Clinton’s popular vote victory in Nevada and an authoritative Associated Press count giving Clinton the edge in the Nevada delegate count, Obama had actually won the state by the only measure that mattered.
“Obama had a majority in the district that had an odd number of delegates, so he won an extra seat,” Berman told the puzzled press; the Associated Press delegate expert, on the call, promised to revise his count.
Obama’s Nevada delegate victory was widely viewed at the time as a curiosity, an asterisk to Clinton’s win. But in February, as Obama amassed delegates despite losing big states, the shape of the race became clear: The name of the game was delegates.
It was the game Berman and a friend, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, had been playing all along. And as Clinton’s staff scrambled after Super Tuesday to remake her strategy to meet that reality, it began to become clear that Berman had helped build Obama a lead too big to surmount.
“He is the unsung hero of the Obama effort,” said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic consultant who supports Clinton.
The bearded, no-profile 50-year-old lawyer’s central role in Obama’s likely nomination is emblematic of the depth of Obama’s preparation for the 2008 campaign.
Clinton’s delegate chief is the much-heralded, oft-profiled, tough-talking past master of the party’s rules, Harold Ickes. But Ickes had a broad portfolio that included fundraising and politicking, a lobbying and consulting business, and a sideline in bitter infighting — all conducted while Berman was concentrating solely on tasks such as hashing out the details of the mixed Texas primary system and arranging obscure Puerto Rican political deals.
Berman’s counterpart on the staff level in the Clinton campaign, meanwhile, is a former New York State Democratic Party official new to the delegate hunt.
Berman, by contrast, 25 years ago joined the very small fraternity of Democratic operatives steeped in the obscure — and typically unrewarding — subfield of delegate selection. It’s a job description that begins with getting the candidate on the ballot with full delegate slates in 50 states and extends through building a whip operation for a possible floor fight at the convention.
In the middle is the crucial process of setting a campaign’s strategy for amassing the maximum number of delegates — a mind-numbing blend of math and politics that will focus a candidate’s energies on congressional districts in which the math of proportional representation gives him or her a chance to pick up an extra delegate or run up a big margin.
Since Gary Hart and Walter Mondale battled toward the nomination, this particular political skill also has been a waste of time: Democratic contests have been decided early.


MEXICO CITY (AP) — Three children have drowned off Mexico's southern Pacific coast after an immigrant trafficker's boat capsized amid heavy rains.
The state government of the southern state of Chiapas says the three children were Salvadoran citizens. They were apparently trying to bypass Mexico's stepped-up immigration enforcement along traditional routes by taking a boat.
The three children's father was with them, and managed to survive the accident.
The government said Friday the accident occurred on a stretch of coast near the Guatemala border.
Many Central American migrants cross Mexico in a bid to reach the United States.


Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP | In this file photo taken on January 22, 2017 people walk in downtown Astana (now renamed Nursultan), with the Baiterek monument seen in the background.
Kazakhstan's new interim president was sworn in Wednesday following the shock resignation of the country's long-time ruler and in his first official act renamed the capital after his predecessor.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took office in a pomp-filled ceremony less than 24 hours after Nursultan Nazarbayev, the only leader an independent Kazakhstan had ever known, suddenly announced he was stepping down.
Tokayev immediately proposed changing the name of the Central Asian nation's capital from Astana to Nursultan, or "Sultan of Light" in Kazakh, and parliament approved the change within hours.
The senate also appointed Nazarbayev's eldest daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva as speaker, setting her up as a potential contender to succeed her father.
Tokayev, 65, will serve out the rest of Nazarbayev's mandate until elections due in April next year, though the former president retains significant powers in the country he ruled for nearly three decades.
Tokayev told lawmakers that Nazarbayev had "shown wisdom" by deciding to step down, a rare move in ex-Soviet Central Asia where other leaders have stayed in power until death.
"Yesterday the world witnessed a historic event," Tokayev said, hailing Nazarbayev as a visionary reformer.
"The results of an independent Kazakhstan are there for all to see," Tokayev said.
Nazarbayev changed the capital from Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty to Astana in 1997, transforming it from a minor provincial town into a futuristic city of skyscrapers rising from the steppes.
Its name meant "capital" in Kazakh and there had long been speculation of a renaming after the leader who shaped it.
The city is central to government propaganda highlighting the achievements of Nazarbayev's reign and his journey to build it was recently the subject of a state-funded film, "Leader's Path: Astana".
Nazarbayev, 78, ruled Kazakhstan since before it gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
He steered the country through a major transformation, developing huge energy reserves and boosting its international influence, but was accused of cracking down on dissent and tolerating little opposition.
Nazarbayev will continue to enjoy significant powers thanks to his constitutional status as "Leader of the Nation", life-time position as chief of the security council and head of the ruling Nur Otan party.
Tokayev appeared to be in pole position to take over in the long term until senators voted shortly after his swearing-in to name Nazarbayeva, 55, as their new chief.
She is the most politically prominent of Nazarbayev's three children and has long been mooted as a potential successor.
Kazakhstan's deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2016, Nazarbayeva has significant influence over the media.
Analysts said it was too early to declare a clear frontrunner to become the next elected president, with the recently named prime minister, 53-year-old Askar Mamin, another possible contender.
Tokayev, the interim president, has a strong diplomatic record dating back to the Soviet period and has twice been foreign minister.
This should go some way to reassuring Kazakhstan's major partners including China, the European Union, Russia and the United States that the move will not threaten key relationships.
But analysts are in two minds over whether he has the attributes to take the job beyond the term that Nazarbayev would have served.
As Tokayev alternated between Russian and Kazakh in his speech in the parliament on Wednesday, he appeared notably more comfortable in Russian.
Independent political analyst Dosym Satpayev said that language skills are closely scrutinised by Kazakh speakers tired of the dominance of Russian.
"In terms of Kazakh language, we cannot say that Tokayev is as comfortable as the first president. This is an important issue in the long term as over 60 percent of the population is Kazakh and this demographic is expanding," Satpayev said.
But Satpayev also said that Tokayev's diplomatic skills had helped him forge a careful career path through an elite prone to clannishness and regionalism.
"He is capable of negotiating between different groups and taking different interests into account. He lacks popular recognition to some extent but he is a heavyweight in the bureaucracy."
The new leader will need to tackle growing discontent over falling living standards after Kazakhstan's economy was hit by the 2014 drop in oil prices and sanctions against Russia, a key trading partner.


CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - With the high school football season in the books and all the state champs crowned, WBTV Sports and Football Friday Night announced their final FFN Top 10 and the team of the year on Tuesday night and that squad is Charlotte Christian.
The Knights finished the year 11-0 and won the NCISAA Division 1 State Championship.
Of their 11 victories, 9 came against teams with a .500 or better record including handing Charlotte Catholic their only loss of the season.
Chester finishes the season as the #2 team. The Cyclones started the season unranked and a relative unknown, but they went 15-0 and won the South Carolina AAA State Championship. Their first title since the 1960s.
Charlotte Catholic started the year as the preseason #1 team but suffered their one and only loss of the season in week one to Charlotte Christian. That lost dropped the Cougars out the poll, but they got back in week 8 and finish the year as the #3 team.
The Cougars won the 3A state title this past weekend 17-14 over Jacksonville to claim their 2nd straight state title.
Weddington is another team that started the season unranked but finish the year as the #4 team after going 15-1 and winning the 3AA State Championship. Their only loss of the year was to conference rival Charlotte Catholic.
Shelby rounds out the top 5 as they are #5.
The Golden Lions started the year 1-3 and were written off by many. But they finished the season with a 12 game winning streak and won the 2AA state title Saturday with a dominate victory over North Davidson 42-21.
That’s the Golden Lions 5th title in the last 6 years.
After finishing the season 14-2 and the 4AA state runners up, the Vance Cougars come in at the #6 spot. This was the Cougars' first ever appearance in the title game as the 14 victories are also a single season program record.
On the strength of a 13-1 record, Hunter Huss is the #7 team. That record is the best in program history as the Huskies won a conference title for the 2nd time in the last 3 years.
Hibriten finishes the final FFN Top 10 in the #8 spot. Their only loss of the year was to Shelby in the 2AA Western Regional Final.
The Panthers finished the year 14-1 and won a conference title for the 3rd straight year.
South Pointe started the season with hopes of winning their 5th straight state-- something no program in South Carolina has ever done. The Stallions would fall to Daniel in the 2nd round of the AAAA playoffs 50-49 in overtime on a controversial play late in the game.
The Stallions finished the year 10-2 and won a region title for the 5th straight year.
Myers Park rounds out the final FFN Top 10 of 2018 as they are #10.
The Mustangs had their best season ever as they finished 13-2 and made it to the 4AA Western Regional Final where they lost to Vance.


A lot of folks say they don’t like okra, but the deer at New Moon Farms just south of Loganville love it. They also love green beans, watermelon, cucumbers and sunflowers. And they don’t even wait for the vegetables to grow or the sunflowers to blossom. They just nibble the young plants right down to the ground.
That’s been Mike Moon’s experience this year. About the middle of May, he planted 10 200-foot long rows of okra, each seed dropped in six inches from its neighbor. That’s 2,000 row feet of okra. And no sooner did the plants come up, then the deer came in and ate the tender young seedlings.
The land he’s farming has been in the family since the early 1800s.
Now a firefighter in Loganville, Moon has 13 more years until retirement and is planning to keep farming right up until retirement and beyond. He hopes to pass along at least some of the land to his children.
And he isn’t giving up on okra. In mid-July he prepared to plant okra again, although this time under plastic mulch. He’s growing Clemson spineless green okra, the same variety his grandfather planted when Moon was a young child.
If a farmer keeps his okra picked, he’ll have new pods coming along right up until frost. Picking okra can be an itchy job, although Moon doesn’t find himself bothered by the prickly hairs of the okra plants. His mother and wife don’t have the same immunity, so they use gloves when they’re harvesting.
Fortunately, his customers like okra prepared in many different ways. He sells to restaurants like Graft in Grayson, to local produce stands like Three Peas in a Pod in Loganville and to local residents.
And he takes it to his booth at the Saturday morning Snellville Farmers Market. His new crop should be ready to harvest in early September, if the deer will let the plants grow.
Robbins is a loyal supporter of local farmers and farmers markets. Well-known for her chef demos around town, she created this recipe for a demo at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a large cast iron skillet in oven to heat at the same time.
Per serving: 130 calories (percent of calories from fat, 77), 2 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 11 grams fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 78 milligrams sodium.
Per 1-tablespoon serving: 92 calories (percent of calories from fat, 97), trace protein, trace carbohydrates, trace fiber, 10 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 90 milligrams sodium.


Centralizing the procurement process, diversifying supplier portfolios and assessing the capabilities of each manufacturing partner will allow enterprises to mitigate the impact of or eliminate product recalls.
In 1982, 31 million bottles of Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol were recalled, costing the company more than $100 million. An order for the bottles to be returned was incited after seven people around in the Greater Chicago area were killed after consuming tablets laced with potassium cyanide.
Bridgestone/Firestone recalled an estimated 6.5 million tires after Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers equipped with those tires experienced tread separation. Not only did Bridgestone spend $440 million on the ordeal, Ford's bill amounted to a whopping $3 billion, not including the $600 million in lawsuits incited by individuals who either sustained major injuries themselves as a result of the tires or were taking legal action on behalf of deceased relatives.
In 2004, Merck, a pharmaceutical company, recalled arthritis drug Vioxx after research discovered that people who had been taking the drug for at least 18 months were likely to suffer heart attacks and strokes. First, Merck lost $725 million in potential Vioxx sales. Then, three years later, the company paid $4.85 billion in settlements, resolving a whopping 27,000 lawsuits.
As one can see, the human and monetary costs associated with recalls can be quite ugly. From what can be gleaned by these two incidents, purchasing management professionals should not only assess what materials are going into the products they're selling, but how item design can impact customer safety.
Coffee machine manufacturers aren't exempt from request for returns, either. According to IndustryWeek, Keurig Green Mountain is recalling an estimated 7.2 million single-serve hot coffee brewing units due to a previously unnoticed burn risk. Apparently, users have reported being scalded because of a malfunction that causes the machines to spray hot water. The recall requests owners return their Keurig MINI Plus Brewing Systems, model number K10, with serial numbers beginning with 31.
What can be learned from this incident? While the parts used to assemble these machines should have been scrutinized more carefully by designers and procurement specialists, the construction of the units should also come into question. Blueprinting may not be a direct concern of the purchasing department, but it's a phase that should never be taken for granted.


What's The Fastest Boat Ever Made?
What you’re looking at above is a sportfishing boat that has a 6.2l V8 engine on the back. And next to that 6.2l V8 engine are three more identical engines. Total power is 2,228hp. Not bad, right?
That’s indeed a crazy powerful boat, and I’m sure it’s fast. Watch this video spotted over on BangShift and you’ll see what I mean.
Assuredly though, this boat only barely begins to enter the world of fast boats. What’s the fastest that you can recall?


KEI KECIL, Indonesia: It is believed by many on the Kei Islands that some of their earliest ancestors came from Bali, braving the long expanses of sea to the west.
Those original descendants, countless generations ago, jumping from one island to the next, found a home in Kei. They brought religion and culture to a truly remote part of the world, a paradise that largely still exists in raw form.
Where Bali has exploded into one of the world’s best known holiday escapes, Kei’s location - closer to Darwin in Australia than Jakarta - has left it in a long shadow. From a state of seclusion adrift in the Banda Sea, the islands’ magic has been left untapped.
There are no beachside cocktail bars or luxury resorts in sight. Instead, the gentle waves lap onto some of the world’s finest untouched sand, so ethereal and white that the locals compare it to flour.
Bali receives as many foreign tourists per day as Kei has had in total over the past seven years. There is a staggering gulf in fortunes when it comes to modern development.
But under the administration of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the development of eastern Indonesia has come into focus. He wants to attract investors to spur economic growth in eastern Indonesia, where significant challenges exist compared to the more populous west. For instance, poor connectivity has seen commodity prices soar for local populations.
However, the resulting massive infrastructure projects rolled out in recent years, including roads and airports, as well as the investment in vast internet networks, has the remote region well placed to take advantage of a growing curiosity of domestic and foreign travellers to explore the country’s outer reaches.
Long after the intoxicating days of pirates and spice in this part of the world, once at the centre of a global tussle for cloves, nutmeg and mace, a new bounty is being uncovered.
Kei is starting to enjoy the riches of the government’s attention. The airport is built for a future growth in capacity, the roads are surprising in their size and quality and 4G coverage even reaches budding Instagrammers on outer atolls surrounded by lively coral reefs.
Getting to Kei Kecil remains a challenge to all but the equally intrepid and well-heeled. Domestic flights from Jakarta, connecting in Makassar and Ambon, still cost hundreds of dollars each way. Schedules are still limited but more frequent flights - and some building competition between Garuda Airlines and Lion Air - suggest fares could eventually drop.
Local tourism authorities now want to ignite the industry and create a “mini Bali”. It is a marketing tag thrown around regularly in Indonesia but Petrus Renwarin, the secretary of tourism in South East Maluku, says Kei’s ambitions have substance.
They are building cooperation with Bali authorities, using ancestry links as a contemporary connector between the two destinations.
“There is a more permanent strategy looking at how they can help us. If the tourists go there we can divert them to come here as well,” Petrus said.
Tourism is a new concept for Kei residents, but many are showing a keen desire to be involved.
On Wab Beach, an exquisite stretch of waterfront, a local man was busy hammering and sawing under the shade of a grove of coconut trees. He was constructing a warung, a simple restaurant, as part of a community effort to attract visitors to the area. Nearby, other stalls were being put together, hammocks stretched between trunks and a social media-ready swing framed by the shimmering waters was ready to be snapped.
A couple of years ago, 65-year-old Alfred Inuhan said, no-one from Wab would have ever seen a foreigner padding across the sand or wading in the shallows. Today, they are still rare, but he is hoping that will soon change.
“We want a lot of of foreign tourists to come,” he said. His simple hospitality is just a start, he says, and he welcomes larger scale tourism investment, on his land or in the area, even if the sight of bikini-clad visitors would come as quite a shock for some.
“We really understand that tourists come but they will not change our culture. I believe that Bali in the beginning was also like that but sooner or later it has changed, since I already visited Kuta and have seen that myself.
“Kei culture is about respecting one another. Whoever they are, we respect them,” he said.
One of the local tourism industry pioneers based near Kei’s best known beach, Pasir Panjang, a pristine three-kilometre stretch of powdery sand, has doubts about plans to attract more people.
Geeryt Martin Tarantyin started one of Kei’s first guesthouses after visiting the island, the traditional home of his father, back in 1989. He continues to run the rustic beach lodgings with his wife Lucy, attracting backpackers, families of explorers and curious Jakartans.
“When people come here they think I live in a paradise,” he said, explaining that in the past the only way to reach Kei was by taking ferries that slowly traverse the seas, connecting the archipelago as far as Batam, near Singapore.
That isolation brought challenges, but also protection. Now, he fears local and investors alike may have good intentions but cultural misunderstandings are inevitable.
Petrus confirmed that five-star developments would be developed “in the near future” but Tarantyin says local beliefs similar to voodoo could stand in the way.
Land ownership is problematic in Kei because of the possible effects of ‘sasi’, meaning prohibition. It is a powerful superstition invoked throughout Maluku, a kind of unseen magic that locals cast onto property or land to ensure others cannot possess or use it without proper permission.
In 2003, the bridge between the island’s two main towns, Tual and Langgur, had sasi placed upon it due to a land dispute. No-one dared to cross for months, until officials remedied the situation and held a ceremony to remove it.
In the case of a prospective hotel on Kei, entire communities would need to have their say on the sale or lease of land. Land is communal, not owned by individuals and negotiations can be lengthy and difficult.
“If you want to buy ground here, the whole community needs to know and approve. If you miss one family, maybe they can put sasi,” Tarantyin said.
Petrus says having united decisions about the future of Kei will bring about togetherness. From land use to conservation and protection of the environment, he wants locals to have a stake. It is the Kei way.
“Local people are very proud when the tourists come,” he said. “We have the custom of accepting people no matter what.
The local government is yet to introduce concrete economic plans to assist villagers navigate a possible looming tide of outsiders, rather it is providing “the spirit” to help push them forward.
Promotion is mostly being left up to informal groups, like a collection of youth under the umbrella Kei Paradise. They are harnessing Instagram to expose Kei to the world.
“We are promoting an unknown destination,” said one of its founders, Rudolof Stanislaus Rettob.
“We often sell Kei as a complete destination. But since it is far away, there are lot of obstacles. Many tourists say that they prefer to go to Singapore rather than Kei, because of the cost, not just the distance.
In the meantime, Rudolof and his partners continue to explore their own home, discovering more - the hidden beaches, cascading waterfalls, mysterious caves and limestone formations - all with the hope that others too, will be enraptured by what Kei holds.
The lure of the horizon, the idyllic, the unknown. It is something these islanders’ ancestors might have understood quite well.


Wildwood at Keowee... "Where the living is casual and relaxed". Today's buyers that plan to build new homes are searching for areas which take them back to nature. It's easy getting back to nature when you live in it, and that's what you get when you build your home at Wildwood. What you save purchasing at this price will buy you a lot of extra features in your new home. This location is convenient to Seneca for work, dining, schools, hospitals and shopping. Drive by today and view this community in person. Dwelling Size: 1. One Story - 1,400 Square Foot Minimum 2. One and a half Story - 1,600 Square Foot Minimum 3. Two Story - 1,800 Square Foot Minimum. This lot has partial lake view and is next to common area giving you a buffer for privacy.


TWENTY-seven provinces were placed under tropical cyclone warning signal number 1 as supertyphoon Ompong continues to move westward over the Philippine sea.
This was announced yesterday by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) spokesman Edgar Posadas.
Posadas said Typhoon Ompong has slightly slowed down as it continues to move westward over the Philippine sea with maximum sustained winds of 205 kms per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 255 kms per hour.
Ompong was.moving west at 20 kms per hour.
The eye of the typhoon was located at 725 kms east of Virac Catanduanes.
Posadas said Ompong continues to threaten Northern Luzon and occasional rains and gusty winds will be experienced over the areas under tropical cyclone warning signal number 1.
Ompong is expected to make landfall in the Northern tip of Cagayan on Saturday morning.
However, Posadas said the forecast may change based on its track.
Posadas said the typhoon enhanced the Habagat or Southwest monsoon.
In line with this, Regional Disaster Risk and Management Councils of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and all other concerned Regions are placed on red alert.
Also under red alert are NDRRMC emergency operation center, NDRRMC Region 1, Region 2, Regionn3 and CAR.
Regions in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Regionn5, Region 2, Region 12, NCR, ARMM and Caraga are now on blue alert.
As of yesterday, Ompong’s effect was not yet being felt in several areas but Posadas said we should not stop preparing because during Yolanda, the day before the disaster, the weather was calm.
“Sabi ko ‘wag po tayong pakakasiguro kasi remember yung Yolanda, the day prior, mainit at umaaraw, pero nung kinabukasan yun na yung delubyo,” Posadas said.
He said the diameter of Typhoon Ompong is bigger than Yolanda’s.
He said Yolanda’s diameter was only 600 kms while Ompong has a 900-km diameter.
“In fact 900 kms yung diameter n’ya, if I’m not mistaken Yolanda was just 600 kms so makikita mo yung laki, pero panalo lang si Yolanda sa lakas ng hangin pero sa lawak ng kanyang nasasakupan mas malaki si typhoon Ompong,” Posadas explained.
As an initial preparation for Typhoon Ompong a total of 29 provinces and 30 cities and municipalities in regions 1, 2, 3, Calabarzon Mimaropa 5, 6,7, 8 CAR have suspended their classes in all levels.


Renting an apartment with bad credit may not be easy. Many large apartment complexes owned by corporations now require credit checks and will refuse applicants who do not meet their standards. Even if you have the income to pay for the apartment, you may still be refused if your credit score is too low.
Is Renting an Apartment with Bad Credit Possible?
One way to solve this problem is to bypass the credit issue entirely. Many privately-owned homes and apartment buildings do not look at credit, preferring to find tenants with good references from previous landlords. You can find advertisements for privately-owned rentals in the classified section of your newspaper, on the internet at sites like Craig's List and Rental.com, as well as through local real estate agents.
Many local homeowners and condo owners rent their houses because they are having trouble selling them in the current real estate market, so you may be able to find a very nice property at a reasonable rate, provided you are a good tenant and are willing to keep the place clean and in order.
However, more and more private owners are looking at credit checks as one way to separate the "good" tenants from the "bad" tenants. If you are forced to deal with the credit issue, you can salvage some of the damage by handling your bad credit report in a proactive way.
Step #1: Clean up your credit.
First, get a copy of your credit report and check it carefully. You can get a credit report from your bank or by contacting the "Big 3″ credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. You are entitled to one free copy from each per year; you can also request additional copies at a cost.
Review your credit report carefully and get someone such as a banker or financial manager to go over it with you if you do not understand it. You can also find internet sites which translate the terminology and abbreviations on your report.
Next, dispute any inaccurate information. Sometimes companies report a late payment incorrectly, or you may have been charged for something you did not purchase. If you dispute a transaction, it is up to the lender or seller to prove that you were truly late with your payment or that you did not pay a bill. If the seller or lender cannot prove this, the credit bureau will remove the bad credit from your report.
Step #2: Talk to your potential landlord.
Once your credit report is clean, you are better able to determine if it will be a report that will trigger a "no" with prospective landlords. If you had a few late payments to a hospital five years ago, you are far less likely to be turned down by a landlord than if you had three evictions last year from apartment complexes for non-payment of rent.
Use common sense when analyzing your credit report; if you are unsure how something will impact your rental prospects, ask the landlord what type of information they gather when looking at a credit report. Be honest if you have had late payments in the past, and ask the agent or representative of the rental company if this will disqualify you from renting. Surprisingly, in many cases, it won't.
Step #3: If necessary, find a cosigner.
You can also use the cosigner option. If you have a parent, spouse or friend with good credit who is willing to sign for you, renting an apartment with bad credit is often no problem. Of course, this is because the landlord knows that your cosigner will be on the hook for any rent you do not pay.
This is a terrible option to take if you are unable to pay the rent in a timely manner, because you will not only be hurting your own credit, but that of someone else. If you do know someone willing to cosign, you must commit to making your payments every month, on time.
Step #4: Be prepared to pay up front.
Finally, you may be approved for an apartment rental in spite of bad credit, but have to pay more up front or per month. Some larger corporations have instituted measures whereby those with poor credit can still rent, but have to pay much larger security deposits. Generally, the security deposit is reflective of how much rent you would pay during the time it takes to evict you for non-payment of rent.
For example, suppose you pay $600 a month for your apartment and it takes 90 days to evict a tenant in your state. Expect to pay around $1,800 in additional security money up front, as the landlord will want that money in escrow in case you default on your rental payments.
This post originally appeared on Go Banking Rates.


Position dovetails with French stand; Olmert tells Mitchell IDF op gave PA chance to reassert in Gaza.
In a sign that the international community's position on Hamas is weakening, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana would not say unequivocally Wednesday during an interview with The Jerusalem Post that the EU should stick with the three preconditions it set for talking with the Islamist group. Solana's comments came as US special Mideast envoy George Mitchell arrived in Israel on what Israeli officials described as a "stock-taking" mission. One of the major issues on the agenda was consolidating the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Ever since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, the international community has largely isolated it, saying it must recognize Israel, forswear violence, and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements. Since Operation Cast Lead, however, there are an increasing number of voices in Europe saying this policy is anachronistic, and that a way must be found to deal directly with Hamas. Asked his opinion, Solana said, "We want to move in a political dynamic, that political dynamic is impossible to have outside two basic parameters." Solana said those two parameters were a two-state solution and the Arab League peace initiative. Solana's comments dovetailed with efforts by some in Europe, led by France, to drop recognition of Israel as a condition for talking with Hamas, saying it would be enough if Hamas accepted the Arab peace initiative, which calls for a two-state solution, and which would then be tantamount to tacit recognition of Israel. Foreign Ministry officials said this position weakened the Israeli and US argument that there are moderate Palestinians with whom it is possible to work, and extremists who must not be given legitimacy. "It is clear that some in Europe are looking for a way to deal with Hamas," one official said. "They are willing to give up on the need to recognize Israel. But that is a cornerstone of our policy." He said Israel would diplomatically fight any changes to the three conditions, and that letting Hamas in "through the back" door would only weaken the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in his meeting on Wednesday with Mitchell, said Hamas had emerged weakened from Operation Cast Lead, and there was now an opportunity for the PA to reestablish itself in some form inside the Strip. Olmert also talked about the Gaza border crossings with Mitchell, saying that while they would be open for humanitarian assistance, they would not return to "full, routine functioning until the issue of Gilad Schalit is solved." According to Olmert's office, the two men also spoke about the diplomatic process, with Olmert repeating his commitments to a two-state solution, the Annapolis process, and the road map peace plan. He also reiterated to Mitchell the importance of former US president's George W. Bush's letter to Ariel Sharon stating that the US recognized that facts on the ground had changed since 1967 and would have to be taken into consideration when drawing up future borders, and that the US would not support a right of Palestinians refugees to return to pre-1967 Israel. Mitchell also met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who, according to a statement issued by her office, said that while Israel believed in the two-state vision, Palestinian refugees would not be allowed into Israel. Other top Israeli officials, including the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau chief Amos Gilad, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i and Israeli Ambassador to the US Sallai Meridor later joined the meeting between Barak and Mitchell. Mitchell also met President Shimon Peres. The US envoy, after meeting Olmert, issued a brief statement saying that "the prime minister and I discussed the critical importance to consolidate the cease-fire, including the cessation of hostilities and an end to smuggling, and the reopening of crossings based on the 2005 agreement. President Obama has said the US is committed to Israel's security and to its right to defend itself against legitimate threats." Mitchell, who did not take any questions from the press, said Obama had made clear that the US "sustain an active commitment toward reaching the goal of two states living side by side in peace and security." Before coming to Israel, Mitchell met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, and following their talks told reporters that the Gaza cease-fire was "critical." "The United States is committed to vigorously pursuing lasting peace and stability in the region," he said. On Thursday, Mitchell is scheduled to meet Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Mossad director Meir Dagan and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Yuval Diskin. He will then go to Ramallah for a meeting with Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad. On Friday he is scheduled to meet Likud head Binyamin Netanyahu, before going to Amman. He is also scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Paris and London before returning to Washington early next week. Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.


LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - Sunday was a day several years in the making at Lufkin’s First Baptist Church.
After Sunday worship, the church broke ground on their new building project with the church’s children doing the honors.
Just over two years ago the church started demolition on the 1928 chapel. Since then, the space has sat vacant.
A new building will now be built that will expand the current property by 25,000 square feet. The new building will include children’s classrooms, a children’s worship area, a new nursery, and new church offices. The building will be used for not just Sunday but for the church’s Mother’s Day Out program.
The project will also include the building of “The Reich Chandler Great Hall” which will connect the new education building and sanctuary.
Reich Chandler was a church member and the son of George and Martha Chandler. After graduating from Lufkin High School in 1985, he went to Baylor University to study law. Chandler practiced law in Houston and Dallas before returning home to practice with his father.
Sadly after battling cancer for 15 months, Chandler died in 2006 at the age of 39.
The Chandler family was in attendance.
The groundbreaking is the beginning of a three-month process. In October, the church hopes to have the loan secured and plans are being finalized on the interior look. Newton hopes that building will begin at the beginning of December.


A day to celebrate education and reading was held in Fort Saskatchewan as students from St. John XXIII took part in a global event.
On Friday, February 1, 2019, the students of St. John XXIII filled the gymnasium to listen to Principle Bonnie-Lynne Boehm read.
Boehm read “The Story Book Knight” by Helen and Thomas Docherty to the entire school.
Once the assembly in the gymnasium was complete students were broken into smaller reading groups.
The children were taken to a quiet place to enjoy more stories which were read to them by various staff members.
Isabella Morales is a student at St. John XXIII. Morales is very engaged in her studies and loves to read.
Reading has many benefits and this was the main focus by educators to the children at St. John XXIII.
A decade has passed since Read Aloud Day first began, Principle Boeham left the students with the main message of encouragement to improve their literacy.
“A story can take you anywhere and you can do this anytime or anyplace,” Boeham said.


BILLINGS- The Montana Rescue Mission announced Monday a familiar face as its new leader in a new partnership.
Matt Lundgren, the current director of the Friendship House in Billings, is the executive director of the Billings Leadership Foundation, a new entity that encompasses both nonprofits.
Lundgren said the new move is not a merger but a shared management agreement and structure designed to improve efficiency.
“If your nonprofit and his non-profit and her nonprofit all have to hire an HR Director, a finance director, a fundraising team, it gets really expensive to run a nonprofit. If all of those folks are shared under one umbrella, you can be more efficient, you can stretch donations and you can make a greater impact in your community,” Lundgren said.
The Montana Rescue Mission started looking for a new director after the retirement of Perry Roberts.


I am compelled to get the word out regarding a Senate bill that could adversely affect private preschools in California. The bill is labeled SB 837 or Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2014. This bill is written with good intentions, but the implementation is a problem. The bill written by state Sen. Darrell Steinberg is asking for approval to provide free preschool to all 4-year-olds — a noble idea. Because of how the author and co-authors have chosen to fund the bill, it places these 4-year-olds in our public school system. I would imagine any person in the field of early childhood development; teacher, psychologist and doctor would oppose this bill.
The bill states that through longitudinal studies it has been found that those children who attended quality preschool programs had higher graduation rates, college enrollment rates and earning rates. This is what preschool educators have provided for years. Four-year-olds still need help developing social skills and gaining confidence. They need space inside and out allowing them to explore their environment. This will not happen at an elementary school. Elementary schools predominantly have blacktop as the surface outside. Inside the classroom, the environment will not be warm and inviting as in a quality preschool and won’t have the supplies needed to create and invent.
What about working parents that need an after-school program? After a certain time of day, the young children will more than likely be mixed in with the older children (as it is now). Again, not appropriate. The funding cannot be used to upgrade facilities for 4-year-olds; meaning they will make do with what they have in place, which is suited for 5 years and up. Let’s also talk about whether or not your local school has space to house a whole new age of children. Will class sizes grow in the other grades to make space for the younger children?
If this bill passes how it is written, with parents unable to access the funding and choose a quality preschool, we feel that a great number of private preschools will have to shut their doors. Most preschools have 50% of children age 4, which also helps the schools differ the costs of the younger children who require smaller class sizes. As we have seen through the already implemented TK classes in the public schools, parents will leave a preschool they have to pay for, if another one is free. If we can’t keep our doors open because of losing half our clientele then who will service the families with younger children? This bill could impact preschools, teachers, vendors and families.
Let’s put aside all the financial ramifications. My passion is and has been helping shape the minds and spirits of young children. I have been in the field for 23 years, first as a teacher and now as a director of Parents and Children’s Nursery School in La Cañada. None of us in our field do our jobs for the paycheck, because there isn’t much of one. We do it because we are passionate about helping young children understand who they are and how far they can go.
We need to keep enriching our children with experiences, music, art and expression. A quality program embraces the whole child. Children leave us with the love of school and the curiosity needed to learn. We need our artists, musicians, scientists and writers as well as our leaders in business. Our public school system has already taken away so much from our children. Do we want them to take it away even sooner?
MARJI GOLDEN is a resident of Glendale. She can be reached at ParentsandChildren@sbcglobal.net.


BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – The No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies surrendered a late lead in a 2-1 loss to the No. 12 LSU Tigers in Friday evening's series opener at Alex Box Stadium.
Texas A&M led 1-0 at the seventh inning stretch, but the Tigers took advantage of an Aggie error to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh and LSU grabbed the lead with a solo home run by Josh Smith in the eighth.
Aggie starting pitcher John Doxakis was left with no-decision despite a stellar performance on the mound. He yielded just one unearned run on four hits while striking out four over 6.2 innings. The southpaw became the 18th Aggie to reach the 200-strikeout plateau in their career. Bryce Miller (4-1) was saddled with the loss, yielding one run on one hit while striking out one in 1.1 innings.
Texas A&M pounded balls all night, but the LSU defense played flawless and limited the Maroon & White to six hits. Logan Foster and Braden Shewmake each registered a double for the Aggies. Texas A&M was doomed by five runners left on base in the fifth and sixth innings, missing opportunities to add insurance runs.
The Aggies and Tigers play a doubleheader Saturday with games scheduled for 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
T3 | Logan Foster started the frame with a wall-banger to centerfield for a double. With one out, Zach DeLoach drove a single up the middle, plating Foster. A&M 1, LSU 0.
B7 | Leadoff batter Brandt Broussard reached base and scored on a pair of errors by the Texas A&M rightfielder. A&M 1, LSU 1.
B8 | With one out, Smith hit a first-pitch offering over the rightfield fence for the go-ahead home run. LSU 2, A&M 1.


Hey all, my name is Wollemi... I freestyle rap. I keep it fresh like Yo Gotti because I want to make it, don't mistake it.. I rake it. I don't jot, but I keep the flow hot. And I'm about spreading good vibes. Would appreciate feedback. It's all about the hustle. PEACE!
Miss Hip Hop Ep #11 - A Beautiful Voice - Without R&B where would Hip Hop be?


(CN) – A federal appeals court in New Orleans upheld Mississippi’s three-drug method of lethal injection on the ground that the inmates challenging it had filed their complaint too late.
Death-row inmates Alan Walker, Paul Woodward, Earl Berry, Dale Bishop and Gerald Holland sued the state in October 2007, claiming that the lethal-injection procedure constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Berry and Bishop have been executed since the filing.
The 5th Circuit said their complaint is time-barred, because the procedure could be challenged as early as 1997, and the state never hid its lethal-injection procedure. The limitation period for the inmates’ actions accrues from the date of their convictions and sentencing, the court ruled, or when the state changes its execution procedure. The plaintiffs’ actions accrued between 1998 and 1999.
When the state moved for summary judgment based on the three-year statute of limitations, the inmates argued that it did not apply because their lawsuit sought an injunction, not damages. The plaintiffs also argued that even if the statute of limitations applied, the action did not accrue before the Supreme Court’s rulings in Hill v. McDonough (2006) and Baze v. Rees (2008).
But the circuit characterized the complaint as a personal injury action, despite the injunction request, and said the action is subject to a time bar.


Harington revealed he hasn't filmed Thrones "for a while."
Game of Thrones fans have been debating for what feels like years about the fate of Jon Snow after that fifth season finale, but actor Kit Harington has potentially dealt us all a fatal blow to the heart.
Kit told Digital Spy that Jon Snow is very much dead, and that fans should "get used" to the prospect, echoing various comments from other cast members over the past nine months or so.
Talking about the intense fan reaction to the final scenes which saw Jon Snow being betrayed by the Night's Watch, he said: "I was hoping that there would be an outcry of 'why?' and 'oh god, no, no' rather than 'thank god'. That was the right reaction as far as I was concerned!
"People didn't want me to die, but he's dead. So there you go, everyone has to get used to it."
"I haven't done Thrones in a while. I had quite a lot of time off last year. I've been taking it easy. And relaxing. When I realized I was doing this, I had a few months to prepare for it, and something like this takes some working through before even getting into the rehearsal room."
"I've just hit the ground, and gone undercover. I've tried to do absolutely no press for anything."
"It's brilliant, the fact that people care about this TV show and what happens to the people they love or hate in it, is a special thing. I've got nothing to complain about, put it that way. If they care about it and I get asked about it a lot, it means that people hold it dear to their hearts and it's doing what it meant to."
So if Jon Snow is dead, will he still watch it?
"Yeah, absolutely. Can't wait for the next season."
We're not totally sure whether or not to believe Kit, but he sounded very convincing. Either way, we'll have to wait until April to find out if he was having us on or not.


Vote Leave has been blasted on social media for a “subversion of democracy,” as an outraged public reacts to allegations that the group cheated to win votes in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Brexit whistleblowers Chris Wylie and Shahmir Sanni are calling for the Electoral Commission to investigate allegations that the group exceeded campaign spending limits. In a 50-page dossier, the lawyers claim Vote Leave circumvented the limit by donating £625,000 ($885,000) to pro-Brexit student BeLeave group, to which it was closely linked.
The donation, however, was allegedly used for Vote Leave, bringing its total spending over the legal limit of £7 million ($9.9 million), breaching electoral law.
The dossier is largely based on witness statements by former Cambridge Analytica employee Wylie, and Sanni – a volunteer who worked at both Vote Leave and BeLeave. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Wylie said the dossier contains evidence undermining the legitimacy of the EU referendum result, which could prompt a new one to be held. Vote Leave has strongly denied any wrongdoing and said the £625,000 donated to BeLeave in the final days of the 2016 campaign was within the rules.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a leading figure in the Vote Leave campaign, also denied any wrongdoing, tweeting a denial. In turn, Channel 4 News challenged Johnson directly to answer questions live on air.
Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat’s Brexit spokesperson, said the allegations were “stunning,” adding: “The British people expect fair play and campaigns to abide by the rules – they must not be cheated. These allegations must be examined by the police. If they represent what happened it is outrageous and shameful.
“The referendum had a very narrow outcome. One of the biggest exercises in democracy must not turn out to be one of Britain’s biggest electoral frauds,” he said, according to The Independent.


A report this weekend by Axios cited documents from within the National Security Council describing the possibility — nay, inevitability — of a 5G network built and operated by the U.S. government. Officials have since poured cold water on this idea, and really, it was never feasible.
In brief, the report cited by Axios suggested that the only way to truly secure the next generation of wireless networks, on which critical infrastructure like self-driving cars will rely, against snooping by China and others, would be for the government to build that network itself.
There are several things wrong with this idea. You probably thought of a couple before you even got to this sentence.
That would be awkward, since those companies, along with others around the world, are well into the process of testing and deploying 5G networks. The idea of a government network operating separately but in concert with the commercial networks doesn’t hold water (we’ve considered it before).
Even if it was attempted, there’s just no way that the U.S. government, even at its best and most efficient, and if it started bipartisan work on this tomorrow, could be in any way competitive in the timing and scale of such a deployment. It takes billions of dollars and years of work to lay the foundation for something like this, and others have a huge head start. And let us not forget that we are experiencing one of an endless series of budget crises, which would not be alleviated by the proposal of this kind of massive undertaking.
I oppose any proposal for the federal government to build and operate a nationwide 5G network. The main lesson to draw from the wireless sector’s development over the past three decades—including American leadership in 4G—is that the market, not government, is best positioned to drive innovation and investment. What government can and should do is to push spectrum into the commercial marketplace and set rules that encourage the private sector to develop and deploy next-generation infrastructure. Any federal effort to construct a nationalized 5G network would be a costly and counterproductive distraction from the policies we need to help the United States win the 5G future.
The United States’ leadership in the deployment of 5G is critical and must be done right. Localities have a central role to play; the technical expertise possessed by industry should be utilized; and cybersecurity must be a core consideration. A network built by the federal government, I fear, does not leverage the best approach needed for our nation to win the 5G race.
While I’m glad that the Trump Administration recognizes that maintaining American leadership in the information age requires a significant investment commitment, I’m concerned that constructing a nationalized 5G network would be both expensive and duplicative, particularly at a time when the Administration is proposing to slash critical federal investments in R&D and broadband support for unserved areas.
The Trump administration itself told Recode that the document Axios saw was dated, and that it wasn’t a seriously considered proposition. The National Security Council doesn’t oversee broadband deployment, and there’s no way this would get past the FCC, which as you can see above would likely be united in opposition to such a strategy.
And although the NSC clearly has national security in mind when it suggests this path, I frankly would not trust the government to build a secure network of any kind, let alone one this big. There would also be considerable irony in a government attempting to secure its internet infrastructure while simultaneously attempting to undermine effective encryption.
The U.S. government may very well use part of the 5G network being built for its own purposes, and it of course subsidizes the rollout of the tech so it can use it itself — first responder networks, military stuff, that kind of thing. But the idea that it would, or could, build a competitive 5G network in the manner suggested has no basis in reality.


The Middle East Forum's Young Adult Division (YAD) is a network of young professionals between the ages of 18 and 40 years old with an interest in the Middle East and related topics.
YAD was launched in 2016 with 50 members. Today, there are more than 200 members across 6 countries, affiliated with more than 35 organizations, including: Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), The Daily Caller, The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and Turning Point USA, to name a few.


Today Sony unveiled a new 2-in-1 USB Flash Drive that features both micro and normal USB 2.0 connectors. The new flash drive is designed to help consumers easily backup, share, and store files between their computer and mobile devices such as Android tablets and smartphones.
The compact yet stylish flash drive is available in capacities of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, and are compatible with Android devices running Android 4.0.3 up to 4.3 that offer USB OTG (On The Go) functionality. Sony has also released a free file manager to help users transfer files from their device to the flash drive. The devices will retail between $19.99 and $62.99.
"Consumers want to let a friend see the photo they just took or share a video easily with as few steps as possible," said Viviano Cantu, director of consumer media marketing, Sony Electronics. "These new drives combine convenience, peace of mind and performance and are perfect for mobile multi-tasking."


The Predators will open the Stanley Cup playoffs at home next week with two games against an undetermined opponent.
The tremendous success of the Predators’ unexpected Stanley Cup Final run last season can be tied to its novelty.
Nashville embraced the team like never before. With each passing playoff series, fan support swelled and captured international attention. Watch parties outside Bridgestone Arena, which began as respectable gatherings attended by diehards, ballooned into Broadway-clogging events.
"I really think last year was a lightning-in-a-bottle kind of thing," said Scott Barry, better known by his wrestling-inspired "Ultimate Predator" alter ego. "It was the first. There were a lot of firsts happening, and everybody wanted to be a part of the first and wanted to be a part of the excitement."
Last year, the Predators unexpected Stanley Cup run saw a lot of fanfare. This year, the team is looking to go even bigger to surpass expectations.
That's the challenge that the Predators have long been preparing for. How will they create similar buzz when the playoffs start next week now that an expectation has been set?
"There's no doubt matching last year is going to be hard," Predators president and CEO Sean Henry said. "But it's also why we're probably investing two-and-a-half times what we did last year into our game entertainment. ... We're going to be doing some things that I don't think have been done before in our sport."
Henry didn't divulge any specifics, but hinted at an impressive pregame presentation that will be capped off each night by the return of star-studded national anthem performances.
Carrie Underwood, the first of 11 high-profile country artists to sing last season, promised “great surprises" in an email to The Tennessean earlier this week.
"The only way I can think to make it bigger and try to keep that attention span is to make it bigger," Barry said.
Most importantly, the Predators are better this season, which should generate more excitement at the outset of the postseason.
The Predators were an eighth-seeded underdog last season, starting each of their four series on the road.
As they prepare for their regular-season finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, they've already clinched the NHL's best record and home-ice advantage throughout the entirety of the playoffs.
The Predators will host Game 1 at Bridgestone Arena on either Wednesday or Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche or St. Louis Blues.
"We can put on a great show, but the real show happens when the puck drops," Henry said. "This is the most talented team we've ever had. There are two things that are slightly better than last year going for us — the team we have on the ice (and the fact) we've all walked through this experience now."


Addressing a business envelope correctly helps ensure that your letter gets to its intended recipient quickly. It’s important to follow standard practices for addressing correspondence, particularly if you are sending a letter to a large company with many departments. Failing to include complete information might mean that it will take longer than necessary for the envelope to reach the correct person or department. If you use the same format for every business envelope, addressing envelopes will soon become second nature.
Print your name, company name, title and address in the upper left corner of the envelope if your business doesn’t use preprinted envelopes. You may wish to print your name above the preprinted area even if you use envelopes printed with your company’s return address. If the U.S. Postal Service returns the envelope for any reason, your mailroom will be able to easily route it back to you if your name is located prominently on the envelope.
Put the recipient’s name on the first line of the envelope. Center the address block in the middle of the envelope. Start the address block several lines below the return address. The Postal Service recommends using all capital letters when addressing envelopes.
Add the person’s title on the next line if you know the title. If you don’t know the title, you may want to include the name of the department instead.
Include the name of the company on the next line.
Put the first address line on the next line. The Postal Service recommends placing the complete address on one line if possible. If the address is too long, divide the address between two lines and place the suite number or building number on the first address line.
Complete the envelope with the city, state and ZIP code. Use one space between the city and state and two spaces between the state and ZIP code.
Use the ZIP+4 code if you know it. The ZiP+4 code contains the usual five-digit ZIP code followed by a hyphen and four additional numbers. The additional numbers makes it easier for the Postal Service to locate the recipient.
Legibility is important. Use black ink and avoid fonts that are hard to read.
Don’t place any text below the city, state and ZIP code. The Postal Service automatic processing machines scan envelopes from the bottom up. If you place anything other than city, state and ZIP code on the last line, you’ll confuse the machine, which could delay delivery of your envelope.
McGurgan, Holly. "Correct Way to Address a Business Envelope." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/correct-way-address-business-envelope-57164.html. 08 March 2019.


Published: Sept. 18, 2013 at 09:44 a.m.
Updated: Sept. 19, 2013 at 02:04 a.m.
The Cleveland Browns spent the offseason touting a quarterback competition between Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell that, from the start, felt like a mirage.
That's exactly what it was.
With Weeden sidelined by a sprained thumb, coach Rob Chudzinski announced Wednesday that Brian Hoyer, not Campbell, will start Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
Hoyer, listed as the Browns' third-string passer, will make just his second NFL start. Last December, he started in a 27-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers as a member of the Arizona Cardinals.
Hoyer was signed in the offseason to pad Cleveland's quarterback room. For anyone following the team closely, his arrival felt inevitable.
The former New England Patriots quarterback is a favorite of new general manager Michael Lombardi, who during his tenure with NFL Network repeatedly touted Hoyer as a starter-in-waiting. Before Chudzinski was brought aboard, coaching candidates Ray Horton, Ken Whisenhunt and Bill O'Brien each told Browns' brass they would add Hoyer to the roster if they landed the gig.
Add it all up, and Campbell's demotion is no surprise. He is what he is. A strong-armed passer with accuracy issues who struggles to generate points. Hoyer, if nothing else, brings a dash of mystery to the role.
Besides, Chud hinted this was coming. After Weeden was hurt in Sunday's 14-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the coach said Monday that both backups were in the running to take over.
That opened the door for Hoyer to hopscotch Campbell, who must wonder today what his future holds in Cleveland.


Opinion|Should I Give Up on White People?
Should I Give Up on White People?
Mr. Yancy is a professor of philosophy at Emory University.
Glenn Ligon, “Palindrome #1” (2007), neon, 8 x 105 inches.CreditCreditPhotograph by Farzad Owrang/Glenn Ligon; Image courtesy of the artist; Luhring Augustine, New York; Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Thomas Dane Gallery, London.
You deserve to be punished with several fists to your face! You’re nothing but a troublemaker! I’ve had enough of your Racist talk! You’d better watch what you say and to whom you say it! You may just end up in the hospital with several injuries or maybe on a cold slab in the local morgue! You’ve got a big mouth that needs to be slammed shut permanently!
Local morgue? Slammed shut permanently? These threatening words are taken from a letter sent to me by an anonymous white person. It was handwritten in black ink, covering both sides of a yellow sheet of paper torn from a legal pad. It is one of hundreds of letters, emails, postcards and voice messages I received — to say nothing of menacing discussions of me on white supremacist websites — after I wrote and published the essay “Dear White America” in December 2015 here at The Stone. What I had offered as a letter of love had unleashed the very opposite — a wave of white hatred and dehumanization.
After receiving the letter that spoke of a cold slab and shutting my mouth permanently, I decided to share it with my students in my graduate philosophy seminar. I needed a witness — perhaps I needed my students to help carry some of what I was feeling. So, I read it aloud.
I had not anticipated my emotional response. As I read the letter, I began to feel a different kind of threat. The kind of threat that has implications for those whom I love. You see, a threat to my life will inevitably impact the lives of my loved ones. And that is a threat that impacts me, my body, my spirit, with a different kind of existential and emotional gravitas.
When I finished reading the letter, I looked at my students as I thought about the reverberations of such a threat. My eyes watered, my body became stilted, I felt a rush of unspeakable anger run through my blood. I said to my students: “This involves my loved ones. I can’t take this hatred anymore! I need a few minutes outside of class.” The room fell silent.
Well, that didn’t happen. I came back into the room, where everyone was still silent. My students’ faces, for the most part, were turned down. I know what they had felt, black students, students of color and white alike. They bore witness to my vulnerability, my suffering, the sting of unmitigated hatred. And they saw the impact in an otherwise safe academic space.
A few moments passed. I apologized to them and resumed teaching. But the space between us in the classroom was not the same; we had witnessed something together. That space will never be the same.
I wanted to model for my students what it is like to be a contemporary philosopher who remains steadfast in the face of hatred. I wanted them to internalize something of what it means to practice philosophy, to love wisdom, in the face of danger, threats of violence and intolerance. Yet, there was a part of me that failed that day.
My composure had collapsed. I seemed to have lost my bearing, my confidence was shaken. I was pushed to rethink what I assumed was a mission of love, the kind of love that refuses to hide and requires profound forms of vulnerability. I had wanted to help heal our broken world, to exalt love in an otherwise ethically catastrophic America. Now I could hear the voices of some of my students of color, “Dr. Yancy, why do you continue to write about whiteness and to address white people?” There is affection and alarm in that question, concern for my safety. And it is a reasonable question.
Given such nasty, unconscionable, violent and perhaps liable discourse, why do I continue to speak to white America about its racism? After all, I am not a masochist, nor do I want to be a martyr.
It is true that being on the receiving end of such hate caused me to grow weary, fatigued and profoundly pained. Mixed with all of that was the outrage I felt when “white innocence” was uncovered as white privilege and white complicity with systems of white racism. I had become, as the civil rights heroine Fannie Lou Hamer once said, “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” And in so many ways, and for good reason, I still am.
So, here I am facing a dilemma. Do I give up on white people, on white America, or do I continue to fight for a better white America, despite the fact that my efforts continue to lead to forms of unspeakable white racist backlash?
I am convinced that America suffers from a pervasively malignant and malicious systemic illness — white racism. There is also an appalling lack of courage, weakness of will, spinelessness and indifference in our country that helps to sustain it. That indifference is itself a cruel reality, a reality that often makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs until I fall flat on my face from exhaustion. That indifference makes me sick to my stomach.
When it comes to white racist hatred, America never seems to have short supply. Perhaps you believe that I exaggerate. But I know better. You see, many whites in America have no need of me. They refuse what James Baldwin called a disagreeable mirror, one that shows them what they would rather not see.
White people have told me where to go: “Yancy, flights leave for Africa every day. We can all admit bringing you to this country was a mistake, so let us get rid of you and correct the mistake. You are not happy, we are not happy with your behavior, so do it.” Or “There are two ways you can return to Africa: On a passenger ship, or in a coffin freighter. Choose quickly.” Notice the urgency of that warning, the implied threat to my life.
Beheaded ISIS style? A meat hook? Kill myself? Reader, the sickness of these threats should trouble your very soul.
James Baldwin writes, “People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.” White America has long lost its innocence. Given its horrendous treatment of the indigenous peoples of this land, there was never any innocence. There were monsters, though. Land takers. Brutal dispossession. And then body snatchers and the selling and buying of black flesh. To be haunted while asleep has its advantages, because one will awake. But to be haunted while awake by a teratology of whiteness is far more frightening.
In response to these positive responses, however, some will still insist, “Their white history speaks louder than their words.” But history, I say, is not fixed. And as human beings we are protean.


Green Bay -- The Green Bay Packers have agreed to terms on a three-year deal with wide receiver James Jones, a source told the Journal Sentinel.
According to the source, QB Aaron Rodgers and WR Donald Driver went to bat for Jones with Packers management and might have had some influence in the Packers stepping up with a good offer. It's true that Jones' options were drying up after the Minnesota Vikings signed WR Michael Jenkins and the New York Jets signed Plaxico Burruss.
But Jones could have stayed out on the market and waited until some team had an injury and reaped a decent reward. Instead, he and the Packers came to terms on a deal this morning that will reunite him with his Super Bowl teammates.
Rodgers spoke to reporters less than an hour ago but about the importance of re-signing Jones and running back John Kuhn.
Other teams had some concerns about Jones' drops and were unwilling to pay him the kind of money he was looking for. The Vikings settled on Atlanta's Michael Jenkins and the Jets settled on former Giant Plaxico Burruss.
That really left the Packers as the only team left, but Jones still had leverage in that he didn't have to return to the team now. So, his agent, Frank Bauer, and Packers negotiator Russ Ball, kept working on a deal that both could live with.
Reached by phone, Bauer admitted that Rodgers and Driver really pressed Packers management to re-sign Jones. You'll never get GM Ted Thompson to admit a player influenced his decision to re-sign a player, but Jones is a popular teammate and with the Eagles acquiring cornerbacks Nnmadi Asmougha and Dominique Rogers-Cromartie, you had to wonder if the coaches felt they needed him back.
"I don't know many quarterbacks who could have done that other than Peyton Manning," Bauer said. "He and Driver really stepped up. That's rare for a quarterback and receiver to do that. That's really neat. James is really excited about coming back. He's very happy."
The Packers bring back their top four receivers and add second-round pick Randall Cobb to the mix. Jones and Jordy Nelson still have to clean up their issue with dropped passes, but this gives coach Mike McCarthy options if one receiver is hot and the other isn't.
Throw in the return of TE Jermichael Finley and the addition of rookie TE D.J. Williams and the Packers should be able to create at least one very favorable match-up against each opponent. The onus now will be on the offensive line to protect QB Aaron Rodgers so he can get them the ball.
Also, LB Nick Barnett sent out a Tweet that said "Go Bills", which means he apparently has signed with Buffalo.


Apple Inc. is experimenting with the design of a device similar to a wristwatch that would operate on the same platform as the iPhone and would be made with curved glass, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported.
The articles cited unnamed sources "familiar with the company's explorations."
The watch-like product that could be used to make mobile payments is currently in the experimental stage and would operate on Apple's iOS platform, which is the foundation of its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch consumer devices, the Times said.
An Apple spokesperson did not immediately return a call for comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported that one person briefed on the effort said Apple discussed such a device with its major manufacturing partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn, which has been working on some technologies that could be used in wearable devices.
The Taiwan-based company has been working toward making more power-efficient displays and its technologies are aimed at multiple Foxconn customers, the Journal reported, citing the same person.


CLEVELAND – Two women -- one with a ticket, one tearfully without -- laid claim to a $162 million lottery jackpot Tuesday, triggering a legal dispute that could come down to "finder's keepers" or fraud.
Elecia Battle (search) went to police Monday with the teary story of a lottery ticket lost outside a convenience store, and a small crowd with flashlights soon gathered in the snowy parking lot in search of the precious paper scrap.
Tuesday morning, Rebecca Jemison (search) said Battle's claim prompted her to quit stalling, submit her ticket and collect the prize from the Dec. 30 drawing.
"I was angry at first, but not worried at all," said Jemison, 34. "I knew what I possessed."
Police, who originally said Battle, 40, had told a credible story about losing the winning ticket, are now investigating whether she lied in a police report, a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days to six months in jail.
Jemison turned in the ticket for the 11-state Mega Millions (search) jackpot at Ohio Lottery headquarters. The lottery validated it Tuesday as the sole winning ticket for the drawing and Ohio Lottery Director Dennis Kennedy said the lottery is confident Jemison bought the ticket, not found it.
As proof, Jemison provided another ticket purchased at the same time and place as the winning ticket and had an outdated lottery ticket that showed she had played the same numbers in the prior drawing, Kennedy said.
Battle immediately filed suit Tuesday seeking to halt any payout to the winner.
"My ticket was lost. I do recall all the numbers. They are all somehow family-related. No one can tell me what I did and did not play. I did it honestly and I have no doubt," Battle told The Associated Press at the office of her attorney, Sheldon Starke.
Battle's suggestion on television that she had bought and lost the winning ticket "made me laugh," Jemison said.
"Let authorities handle her," she said. "It's very unfortunate that someone would think of something like this."
The lottery commission had no immediate comment on the lawsuit, said spokeswoman Mardele Cohen. Jemison, who said she had waited to come forward because she wanted to speak with a lawyer and accountant, could not be reached for comment after the suit was filed.
Jemison, who handles telephone and doctor paging duties at a suburban hospital, said she is looking forward to buying a new home, taking a vacation and sharing her prize with her family. She and her husband, Sam, have a 12-year-old daughter.
She took her winnings in an immediate lump sum of $94 million, before taxes. After taxes, it will be worth an estimated $67.2 million.
South Euclid, meanwhile, is expecting its own windfall to the tune of about $1.4 million in taxes from the prize. The Cleveland suburb had been expecting a $1 million deficit for 2004, and Mayor Georgine Welo laid off 11 employees last week.
Welo said Tuesday the unexpected income tax will make life easier in South Euclid, and that she likely would soon rehire two of the laid-off workers.
Earlier Tuesday, Starke, unaware that the lottery was validating Jemison's claim, said he intended to make a case that the winning ticket was Battle's lost property.
"If there is one type of property that is not presumed to be abandoned, it's money," he said. "Anyone who finds it is not the owner."
The Ohio Lottery says the ticket is a bearer note, which means whoever turns in a valid ticket is legally entitled to the winnings.
After learning that Jemison turned in the winning ticket, South Euclid police Lt. Kevin Nietert said he had not been able to reach Battle and her attorney by phone. "From a police department point of view, it obviously draws into question the integrity of Elecia Battle's report."
The winning ticket was sold at Quick Shop Food Mart in South Euclid, about 15 miles east of Cleveland.
Battle filed a police report saying she dropped her purse as she left the store after buying the ticket. She said she realized after the drawing last Tuesday that the ticket was missing and told police that the numbers she picked represented family birthdays and ages.


Before SAP Labs designed its new digs in Palo Alto, company executives asked employees how to make it a welcoming place to work. After all, that’s where they spend most of their day.
The answer? Windows. Lots of windows letting in lots of light.
The German-based business software company complied – even going so far as to move executives away from windows to give more workers access to daylight.
As the country embraces “green” building design – be it in the workplace or at home – daylight has become a premium. Not only does it save energy – more sunlight means less bulb light – but research shows that workers with access to natural light are more productive.
“Your mind is pretty powerful. If you feel more connected naturally, you perform better,” said Alan Turner, principal of the Mountain View architectural firm Hawley, Peterson and Snyder, which designed the Hewlett Foundation’s Menlo Park headquarters, one of California’s first buildings to earn a gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Perhaps, but recent studies supporting the productivity claim are helping architects convince developers that such green features are good for business – everybody’s business. Not only can landlords charge more for the space, but companies can achieve better results from their employees.
Lisa Heschong, founder of Heschong Mahone Group in Sacramento, has spent years studying the connection between people and sunlight. In 2003, Heschong studied workers in a Sacramento Municipal Utility District call center to discover whether natural light plus a view made any difference.
Based on a 1999 analysis she performed with shoppers and schoolchildren, she already knew that natural light caused shoppers to buy more and students to perform better in school. But in the study requested by the California Energy Commission, she wanted to analyze worker productivity and whether it mattered if people had a view.
“We found really, really big effects,” said Heschong, who studied two call centers operating 12 hours a day with 100 employees. In each study, employees with views outside their windows answered and processed calls 7 percent faster than employees doing the same work without a view.
No one is exactly sure why people perform better with a view, but Heschong has a theory. It has to do with circadian rhythms, the 24-hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings.
While the data was compelling, when it was released four years ago there was little if any construction under way in the U.S. commercial real estate market, and Silicon Valley was experiencing one of its worst downturns in history. Now that the construction pipeline is bulging with commercial projects, the research is beginning to resonate with companies planning new buildings, as well as the developers in charge of building them.
In fact, after years of watching developers’ eyes glaze over when he mentioned environmentally friendly design, David Hobstetter, principal at KMD Architects in San Francisco, has seen a change.
One developer who’s already on board is Jay Paul Co. of San Francisco, currently building Silicon Valley’s largest development in five years, the 1.8-million-square-foot Moffett Towers. Matt Lituchy, chief investment officer for Jay Paul, said bona fide research linking light with worker productivity helps make the case for designing buildings with more natural lighting.
The seven-building, eight-story Moffett Towers offer what Lituchy called a “curtain wall” of floor-to-ceiling windows, with floors that measure 38,000 square feet, allowing more light to reach the buildings’ interior. In comparison, much of the valley’s older building stock has floors that are two and three times as large, and not much if any light reaches inside. None of the Moffett Towers buildings has leased yet, but Lituchy said the interest is high.
To critics who say such construction costs too much, architects counter that green design is no longer more expensive than standard design because more suppliers have entered the marketplace, bringing down prices.
Companies have also discovered that offices designed to make workers more comfortable pay for themselves. Standard industry norms say that during a building’s 30-year life cycle, a company will spend 90 percent of the costs on salaries for its workers; 3 percent on energy for lighting, heating and cooling; 4 percent on operating the building; and 3 percent on constructing the building.
“If we can achieve a minor improvement in productivity – and good daylighting has demonstrated that you can get 7, 8 or 10 percent improvements in performance – you pay for the bricks and mortar,” said Hobstetter, whose firm is designing the San Francisco headquarters for the Public Utilities Commission, touted to be the greenest building in the country.
Roney said that bolstered with the research, he has little trouble convincing the bosses to give up the corner office with a view so more people can enjoy it. Especially in Silicon Valley, where companies lure workers with such features as chef-prepared meals, massages and dry cleaning service, it stands to reason that offices with views would not be a tough sell.
“All companies are realizing that their most important asset is their people,” Roney said.


Wait, Did Trump’s EPA Just Do Its Job for a Change?
Look at that beaut. Volvo’s all-electric truck, the Volvo FL Electric.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday it plans to better regulate the pollutants spewing out of heavy-duty trucks. Yes, this is the same EPA that wants to keep coal power plants alive, plans to scrap regulations on mercury emissions, and does not care about fuel efficiency.
Could Trump’s EPA actually be doing something helpful for our planet and health for a change? Maybe! But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here.
The proposed “Cleaner Truck Initiative” seeks to decrease nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from heavy-duty trucks, which can worsen or help spur asthma and other respiratory issues when inhaled regularly. These gases can also help contribute to the formation of smog. Nitrous oxide, a form of nitrogen oxide, also warms the planet, making up 6 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposal to tighten NOx emissions standards, which have not been updated since 2001, began under former President Barack Obama. And while it’s a rare sign of progress for Trump’s EPA to push forward with an Obama-era regulation, this one still doesn’t go far enough, said Mustafa Ali, former environmental justice administrator at the EPA.
The U.S. emitted 14.1 million tons of NOx in 2011. In 2014, roughly half of those emissions were from vehicles. Most of those come from vehicles running on diesel like heavy duty trucks, according to a 2017 EPA document. If we were really serious about decreasing this (and all other) truck pollution, it’d mean going electric.
Obviously, this is easier said than done: Implementing a nationwide ban on fossil fuel trucks would require a complete infrastructure makeover that’d switch out gas stations for charging stations to support these vehicles. And of course, charging stations would need to run on renewable energy for the electric vehicles to be better for the environment. If the EPA even took the miraculous step of mandating zero truck emissions, industry officials and likely even state governments would be pissed and challenge the proposal in court.
Nothing about it would be easy.
But it wouldn’t be impossible, and radical change is becoming increasingly necessary as the threat of catastrophic climate change looms. And other countries are stepping up. Spain, for example, proposed Tuesday to remove all gas-powered cars from its roads by 2040. Other European countries and cities are also moving forward with fossil fuel car bans. If the U.S. is going to update these standards, why not go all the way?
He’s right: In 2017, University of Washington researchers published findings on nitrogen dioxide emissions nationwide, which largely come from transportation, and found that people of color experienced higher exposure to this pollutant between 2000 to 2010. That’s why advocacy organizations like the Moving Forward Network have been urging the EPA to implement zero-emissions technologies in heavy-duty trucks since at least 2016.
The communities that live day to day exposed to pollution from truck traffic are sure to welcome any relief. The EPA could always, however, go a step further to ensure no communities need to bear the burden of unhealthy air.


Najib arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
KUALA LUMPUR - Disgraced former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has been out in recent weeks campaigning as if for an election, trying to shed the image of a wealthy, elite politician and elicit public sympathy before his corruption trial begins next Tuesday (Feb 12).
The trial starts nine months after Malaysians voted Najib out of office in a general election dominated by public disgust over allegations some US$4.5 billion (S$6.1 billion) was stolen from 1MDB, and about a quarter of it went into his personal bank accounts.
Police found nearly US$300 million worth of goods and cash at properties linked to Najib soon after the May 2018 election.
The 65-year-old son of Malaysia's second prime minister is also trying to build an image as a folksy voice of working people, especially members of the ethnic Malay majority.
Najib, in a viral video last month, crooned a Malay-language version of the 1970s hit Kiss And Say Goodbye, surrounded by a chorus of sombre young singers, criticising Mahathir's coalition for failing to live up to election promises.
"On May 9, 2018, I was ousted. All this time, I have been fighting with my life for the people I love. But what can I do?" an earnest Najib says of his "saddest day" in the introduction to the song.
Najib has also been hitting out online. His jibes against ruling party politicians on Facebook and Twitter have some social media users referring to him as "King of Trolls".
A relaxed, casually dressed Najib also paid a visit this month to Langkawi, Mahathir's island constituency, where he pottered around town, visiting markets, eating at hawker stalls and rubbing shoulders and posing for selfies with passers-by.
Mahathir was not impressed. He told a news conference last week Najib seemed to be getting popular on social media because "he provides a lot of stories".
Harvinderjit Singh, one of Najib's lawyers, declined to comment on the former premier's public appearances but said the 1MDB trials were unlikely to be affected by the hoopla.
"The case is going to be determined by what happens in court, not out of it," he said.
While Najib has been trying to build public support, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has been building a formidable team to prosecute Najib, his wife and a host of other former top officials charged for corruption. All of them have pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution has been recruiting top-notch criminal attorneys including former federal court judge Gopal Sri Ram and Sulaiman Abdullah, a lawyer with a background in cases of white-collar crime.
Seven of those charges will be the subject of Tuesday's trial, relating to transfers totalling RM42 million (S$14 million) into Najib's personal bank account from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit.
Prosecutors have handed nearly 3,000 pages of documents to the defence ahead of the trial, said Najib's lawyer Singh.
"Our client is of the view that if he gets a fair trial, then the truth will show itself to the public," he said.


The move also appears to be a tacit admission by the company that currently there is more of that opportunity  in music subscriptions than there is in video.
Her comment took on new meaning when, on May 16, Google-owned YouTube said that it was overhauling its subscription business, doing away with YouTube Red and in its place introducing two new offerings: the $10-per-month YouTube Music Premium for ad-free music streaming and the $12-per-month YouTube Premium, which combines the music subscription with ad-free video viewing and access to original programming.
The move also appears to be a tacit admission by YouTube that currently there is more of that opportunity in music subscriptions than there is in video, a landscape overrun with competition from deep-pocketed players including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Apple. While those companies are pumping several billion dollars each into premium programming and rich talent deals, sources say the budget for originals has not expanded meaningfully from the high nine-figures it spent last year despite the recent success of more high-profile projects like Cobra Kai. “The premium subscription service has been a tepid success at best,” notes GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ivesof early efforts to draw paying members through original programming alone. YouTube has not disclosed how many subscribers Red has.
A version of story first appeared in the May 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.


Diamond Foods Inc. completed its acquisition of Oregon-born Kettle Foods, the San Francisco based company announced today.
Under the terms of the agreement, Diamond paid Kettle's London-based parent, Lion Capital LLC, $615 million in cash for the snack food operation founded in Salem.
Kettle's all-natural chips, nut butters and trail mix are distributed throughout North America, Japan, Guam and Western Europe. It had sales of $235 million in 2008, according to Lion Capitals Web site.
The transaction was financed with proceeds from Diamond's recent common stock offering, borrowings under a new five-year $600 million credit line, and existing cash resources.
"The addition of Kettle Foods greatly strengthens our presence in the snack market," Michael J. Mendes, chairman and CEO of Diamond Foods, said today. "Kettle has been an innovator in the premium, natural potato chip category and is a brand which has demonstrated strong growth. We look forward to investing in the Kettle brand to further build its footprint."
Diamond Foods has focused on acquiring and building food brands that also include Emerald snack nuts, Pop Secret popcorn and Diamond of California nuts.


English Premier League Burnley v Newcastle (Singtel TV Ch102 & StarHub Ch227, tomorrow, 4am).
Sociedad v Celta (StarHub Ch213, tomorrow, 3.55am).
ABL HK Eastern v Macau Black Bears (StarHub Ch112/205 & 76.25MHz, 8pm).
Uefa Champions League Group E: AEK v Ajax (Singtel TV Ch110 & StarHub Ch202). Gp G: CSKA Moscow v Plzen (Ch112 & Ch213) - Wednesday, 1.50am. Gp H: Man United v Young Boys (Ch110 & Ch202), Juventus v Valencia (Ch112 & Ch213). Gp G: Roma v Real Madrid (Ch113). Gp F: Lyon v Man City (Ch203) - Wednesday, 3.55am.