‘We expected a greater Turkish response than this, but you know, every country has its own special affairs.’ Taken alone, the remarks by Bashir Hajjo, introduced by BBC Arabic TV last Thursday as the spokesperson of the Tawhid Brigade, are no cause for alarm, except, of course, when placed within context. By “we”, Hajjo was referring to the Tawhid Brigade — and other rebel groups — perceived as a division in the loosely-defined Free Syrian Army (FSA).
Based on Hajjo’s forthright remarks, one can effortlessly deduce that the Tawhid spokesperson was disappointed by the meek Turkish response to mortar shells originating from Syria. The shells fell on a Turkish border town, killing five, including three children. Hajjo perhaps expected an all-out Turkish military intervention in Syria. Some deem that as one of few options that could break the deadlock in fighting between the Syrian army, which is still largely loyal to the regime of Bashar Al Assad and the thousands of fighters dedicated to the Baath regime elimination.
Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported of an official Syrian apology soon after the shelling, but circumstances remain hazy. The Syrian government promised an investigation, the seriousness of which remains doubtful. The Turkish military was quick to retaliate, as the parliament voted to extend a one-year mandate to the military in order carry out cross-border military action. Irrespective of the skirmishes on the Syria border, the mandate was originally aimed at Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq and it had already been set for a pre-scheduled vote in mid-October. Many in the media overlooked the recent history of the mandate and placed it entirely in relevance to the ongoing violence in Syria. Some wished to see it as a declaration of war.
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister, Besir Atalay, asserted that the authorization was not a declaration of war. It was an assurance that was then repeated by Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said that Turkey had no intention of starting a war. But it is all moot now, for Turkey is currently roped into the sinking Syrian boat.
It is possible to trace back Syria’s tragedy and all of its gory details. One is also compelled to assign the blame: The brutality of the regime has been particularly revolting and indefensible. But one would be naive to ignore as extraneous the rush to destroy Syria by regional governments that are as democratic as the apartheid regime of South Africa was fair and nondiscriminatory. What started as an uprising, conspicuously evolved into an armed rebellion and consequently morphed into civil war. If those who are feeding the violence are not somehow extricated from Syria’s political equation, the path ahead for Syria is even grimmer than the last 18 months. And yes, there is still room for greater calamity.
While some fear perpetual conflict, others may welcome it out of desperation or for financial gain. The Syrian leadership, fully mindful of the unspeakable crimes committed in the post-Muammar Gaddafi Libya, know well that the time for a peaceful transition is long gone. The level of vengefulness of the Baath party’s enemies can be seen on numerous videos. They are as difficult to watch as the ruthlessness of the regime itself. The regime will fight to the bitter end, even at the expense of the geographic unity of Syria.
The rebels are hostage to the same logic. But they are also detained by the political agenda and aspiration of other countries in and outside the region. A simple analysis that blames the Syrian National Council (SNC) — established one year ago — for failing to unite behind a clear political agenda is matched by the naivety of accusations lobbed at the FSA. The fact is that the diversions of SNC’s agendas are a mere reflection of the competing agendas of those who fund them. The FSA is even more splintered.
Money invested in sustaining the Syrian war must be astronomical if Syria’s Foreign Minister, Walid Mua’alem, was alone offered $100 million (Dh367.8 million) to defect. Money made in this cruel conflict through an enormous and growing network of political peddlers, middlemen, arms dealers, smugglers and assassins must be quite considerable. To ensure its profitability, the bloody show must go on.
Speaking of FSA and of an independent political body can be misleading. It is meant to create an impression that Syria will not fall into the same bottomless chaos suffered by Iraq after the US invasion in 2003. Paul Bremer, the then Iraq governor from the US, had disbanded the Iraqi Baath party, the army and most of the country’s institutions. But Iraq is yet to emerge out of its protracted nightmare. Syria will suffer an even worse fate because there is no powerful authority to centralize efforts and promote for a definite political agenda. Without political centrality, Syria will serve as a point of departure to all sorts of regional conflicts for many years to come.
With few genuinely championing political solutions (Egypt’s Mohammad Mursi’s initiative was partly shot down by his own contradictions), opportunists are doing their best to ensure that no non-violent resolution is possible. Weakening Iran is a unifying call for some. Plots are hatched regularly to achieve that end. A recent decision by Washington to remove the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) from its terrorist list, was hardly removed from the turmoil in the region. Neither is a more recent call by Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, for an Arab Spring that must be supported — most likely by some of the powers at work in Syria.
Lieberman must be content to watch Turkey getting entangled in the bloody Syrian mire. Until recently, Turkey was an avowed enemy to his country’s regional ambitions. Turkey is of course responsible for many of its decisions concerning Syria. It should have not allowed its infinite fears of Kurdish empowerment in northeastern Syria to blind it from basic political wisdom. Its border nightmare is likely to double. Erdogan has much soul-searching to do as he serves his last term as the head of The Justice and Development Party, which saw Turkey’s political evolution and economic rise. Turkey’s “zero problems” with neighbors policy has been shot and buried at the Syrian border, but the alternative cannot possibly be feeding a conflict that promises no end in sight. Too many people have died that way.
Middle East historian and political scientist Jeremy Salt advised Turkey in a recent article to “get out of this mess without delay … to get back to where it was and begin the process of repairing the damage done to relations with near neighbors.” There are many of course, who would advise Turkey otherwise. The border violence is meant to be a defining point that will make or break Erdogan’s legacy and the future appeal of his party.


GRAFENWOEHR, Germany -- Community family members between the ages of 14 - 22 years old now have the opportunity to gain meaningful job experience here while getting paid.
The Civilian Human Resources Agency Northeast/Europe Region has begun accepting applications for the Army Europe Youth Summer Hire Program.
There are at least 30 positions available in the Bavaria footprint, which includes Grafenwoehr, Vilseck, Hohenfels and Garmisch.
The program will provide on-post jobs in general clerical and light laborer positions to U.S. family member dependents ages 14-22. Applicants of local national employees who are not U.S. citizens must be 15 years old.
The job announcements are open now through May 18. The program will run from June 29-Aug. 7.
Online applications are available on the CHRA-E website at https://acpol2.army.mil/sh/staffing/summerhire.
Applicants must submit a resume online, and hard copies of supporting documents, such as W-4 and SF-1199a, must be provided directly to the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center that services their community.
• Open to all family members between the ages of 14 - 22 years old.
• Must be a family member of an active military member or DoD civilian.
• Must be age 14 by June 29.
• German, non-U.S. family members of local national employees may apply if they are at least 15 years old by June 29 and have not reached their 23rd birthday before Aug. 7.
• Applicants must show a valid dependent ID card and U.S. passport. Local national students must show a valid dependent ID card and passport.
• Family members of employees of the American Red Cross, United Services Organization (USO), banking facilities, University of Maryland, retired members of the Armed Forces, or contractors are not eligible to participate.
• Students must have a current bank account in their own name for direct deposit of pay.
See more information in the Related Links box in the upper right.


Mr. Surdi is a serial entrepreneur with a specialty in Marketing and Business Development. His interest in life changing, disruptive technologies is what attracted him to PowerBeam. Mr. Surdi firmly believes that PowerBeam has figured out what scientists have been trying to discover since the discovery of the light bulb and feels that wireless electricity will not only improve our current electrical needs but will spawn a wave of new inventions and technologies useful on this earth and beyond.
Mr. Surdi has extensive knowledge in the start up environment, has many entrepreneurial achievements and a great deal of experience in leadership. In 2002, Mr. Surdi launched an internet company called Phastcash.com which returned its investment in nine months. In 2006, he co-founded a company called Global Educational Program which is currently the premier firm providing Business Development for foreign executives and students in the Silicon Valley. He has also won a number of awards in entrepreneurship at both the local and national level.
Chris became a competition judge for the Vator Splash Oakland competition.


Dumped Wallabies assistant Stephen Larkham says he still aspires to coaching at the highest level despite the tumult and controversy of the past three months.
Fresh from a perspective-giving trip to Laos with official Rugby World Cup charity Child Fund Pass it Back, Larkham said he was undeterred by a messy exit from the Wallabies coaching set-up.
The news could set him up for a showdown with other likely candidates for the Wallabies top job, including Dave Rennie, Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland, with current coach Michael Cheika almost certain to leave the post after this year's World Cup.
"I'm up here in Brisbane at the moment with the local coaches coming in, club coaches and school coaches. What's interesting to identify is that everyone who is a coach and was in that room up here, is keen to get further in their coaching," Larkham said.
"The motivation varies from trying to help rugby out, to try to be the best I can be in my position, to just chasing success. I'm no different, there's no doubt about that. I'm no different. Every coach who's coaching professionally would be no different.
"It would be a huge honour and you've got to look at the motivation for it, obviously, but everyone at the top level has the correct motivation there."
In the month since Rugby Australia announced he was the sacrificial lamb for the worst Wallabies season in history, Larkham has sunk his teeth into his new role as national high-performance coach adviser.
It's a long title for a role that he can largely make his own. Already he has narrowed his focus to the Aussie 7s program, the Junior Wallabies and the Wallaroos.
He was in Brisbane at the weekend to watch the Reds Women take on RugbyWA in round two of Super W and addressed a coach development workshop at Ballymore.
But in the immediate aftermath of his exit from the Wallabies, the 102-Test former five-eighth joined Wallaroo Emily Chancellor in Laos, a landlocked country in south-east Asia where the Australian arm of charity ChildFund is doing life- and community-changing work with its rugby and personal development program Pass It Back.
World Rugby announced on Sunday it had received $2.8 million in pledged donations for ChildFund through its ticketing partnership with the 2019 World Cup, a record figure.
"Laos was amazing. It was a timely trip definitely, there's no doubt about that. Just that ability to focus on another aspect of the game," he said.
"Because of everything that was going on prior to leaving I didn't really get a chance to look into the program.
"The majority of teams were girls and they were coached by girls and their skills – 12-year-old girls to 15-year-old girls – were amazing. Their skills were unbelievable, playing on dirt and rocks, no shoes. They just knew how to play rugby.
"It was eye-opening. I was proud. It made me proud to be Australian, one, because ChildFund Australia is associated with the program, and two, it made me proud to be a rugby player because I could see how much of an impact rugby was having on the individual lives of the kids and therefore the communities they took it back to."
The former Brumbies head coach, who was anointed by Cheika as his successor before their coaching relationship soured, said he was pleased to be seeing out his contract with Rugby Australia.
His move sideways in the organisation raised eyebrows when it was announced, but Larkham said he believed the organisation was fair dinkum about looking after coaches.
"There are plenty of coaches in the past, we were talking about it yesterday in the workshop, like Richard Graham – a fantastic coach, with so much experience, has developed so well, and the opportunities just weren't there for him in Australia," he said.
"I think it's genuine, from the CEO to the board through to everyone in Rugby Australia that we are genuine in looking after our own. There is a push at the moment and certainly the right push to maintain our IP [intellectual property] and to develop our IP."


Schoenherr Road is closing at M-59 (Hall Road) on Monday as construction on the Macomb County thoroughfare continues.
Crews will be working to pave the left two lanes of the intersection — an approximately 10-day project scheduled to be complete Sept. 1, according to a Michigan Department of Transportation news release.
Access to all businesses will be maintained.
The closure is part of a two-year, $60 million project to redo four miles of M-59 between M-53 and Romeo Plank Road. MDOT said construction is on schedule, with phase one to be complete by mid-October and phase two to be done by October 2018.
The M-59 crossover between Utica Park and Delco boulevards will be reopened Monday. The Hayes Road intersection was recently paved and reopened.
Three lanes of eastbound M-59 are open from M-53 to Schoenherr and three lanes of westbound M-59 are open from Garfield to Schoenherr.
More project details can be found on movingmacomb.org.


Starwood Hotels and Resorts, the company behind nearly a dozen hotel brands, says that more than 50 of its locations suffered from a malware attack on point-of-sale systems.
Hackers are at it again, as major hotel company Starwood reveals that customer data was nicked.
If you stayed at a Sheraton, Westin or other Starwood hotel in the US or Canada this past year, you'll want to keep an eye on your credit or debit card account.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide said this week that point-of-sale systems at more than 50 of its hotels had been infected with malicious software. The malware, installed at gift shops, restaurants and other locations, let hackers make off with payment card data, including cardholder name, card number, security code and expiration date.
The company said in a statement that it has removed the malware and "implemented additional security measures to help prevent this type of crime from reoccurring." It also said there's no indication at this point that its guest reservation or preferred-guest membership systems were affected. The company added that there is no evidence that customer PINs or contact information were captured.
A list of affected hotels (PDF) includes facilities in major cities, such as the Sheraton New York Times Square hotel, the Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago, the Westin Los Angeles Airport and Le Centre Sheraton Montreal. The Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel was also hit. Timing of attacks varied from place to place, but the earliest listed happened in November 2014, with the most recent occurring in March of this year.
Starwood is far from the only business to fall victim to this sort of attack on point-of-sale systems. Last year, home-improvement chain Home Depot said 56 million credit cards had been put at risk by such an attack. Prior to that, at the end of 2013, Target was hit by a similar breach, which the chain estimated could have affected a third of the US population.
People who think they might've been hit by the breach can find more information in this security notice from Starwood.


ANNAPOLIS (October 20, 2018)—Governor Larry Hogan today announced the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge will be renamed after Charles County Senator Thomas "Mac" Middleton. Standing at the base of the 77-year-old bridge, Governor Hogan joined Senator Middleton, Delegate Sally Jameson, and Maryland Transportation Secretary and Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Chairman Pete K. Rahn for a ceremony to unveil the new signage and officially name the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas "Mac" Middleton Bridge.
"I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to a gentleman and a leader who has dedicated so much of his life to this county, to our great state, and to serving others than renaming this the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas "Mac" Middleton Bridge," said Governor Hogan. "On behalf of all the grateful Marylanders, I want to sincerely thank Senator Middleton for his decades of dedicated service to the people of Charles County and to the State of Maryland."
During the 2018 Legislative Session, a law sponsored by Delegate Jameson was passed that would rename the Nice Bridge after the Senator. Senator Middleton has been a public servant since 1976, when he entered the U.S. Army. He was a member of the Charles County Planning Commission from 1978 to 1985 and served in various roles in Charles County until 1995, when he became a Maryland Senator. Senator Middleton served his last term in office during Session 2018 as the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee.
As part of this event, the governor announced that the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the new $765 million bridge was issued today, officially starting the contractor procurement process. Only the most qualified teams that successfully respond to the RFQ will be included in the subsequent Request for Proposals solicitation process next year. The MDTA anticipates starting construction in 2020 and opening a new, wider, and safer bridge in 2023.
The MDTA will bring $45 million in construction management contracts to the Maryland Board of Public Works for approval on Oct. 31. The contracts will allow the MDTA to get construction management and inspection services for the new bridge.
"By right-sizing the bridge design, we're able to deliver an affordable new bridge and do it years sooner," said Transportation Secretary and MDTA Chairman Rahn.
Since taking office, the Hogan administration has been committed to building a new, wider, and safer bridge. On Nov. 21, 2016, Governor Hogan announced $765 million in funding to construct a new Potomac River crossing, replacing the Nice Bridge. Without the new bridge, the existing bridge would have required a major rehabilitation project in the next five years. The MDTA has successfully reduced project costs by more than $200 million below early study estimates, making this project more affordable and enabling MDTA to move forward with construction in the near term. The new bridge will be built north of and parallel to the existing 1.7-mile bridge and will include four new lanes for traffic, with two in each direction.
The MDTA is responsible for constructing, managing, operating, and improving the state's toll facilities. In May 2015, Governor Hogan lowered toll rates in Maryland for the first time 50 years. Since then, Marylanders have saved $186 million in tolls. In May 2018, Governor Hogan eliminated the $7.50 E-ZPass Maryland transponder fee. Since then, 73,000 new E-ZPass accounts have opened and 86,000 free transponders have been provided to customers.


CHELSEA new boy Willian is determined to make his mark at Stamford Bridge as he seeks to carve out a place for himself in the Brazil squad for the 2014 World Cup finals.
The 25-year-old was on the threshold of joining Tottenham after passing a medical before Chelsea gazumped at the eleventh hour to tie up a £30m deal.
The Blues' midfield ranks swelled this summer and Willian will have to force his way into the reckoning with the likes of Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Ramires, Andre Schurrle and Kevin De Bruyne to contend with.
But Willian is under no allusions about the challenge he faces at Stamford Bridge.
"I know that I haven't secured my spot here, but I will do my best to achieve that place, while respecting the other players," Willian told Brazilian publication Globo Esporte.
"I will train, play and do my best to get the trust of the manager and of the fans.
"There is no doubt English football is very big, with huge visibility. I hope that helps me to be called up for the national team - but of course that depends on me.
"I will have to play and prove I deserve that spot. I first have to become a regular starter, then play well and be called up [by Brazil], this is my goal."


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The hills are alive with the sound of motorsport: The Red Bull Ring in Austria.
Austrian Red Bull tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz likes to do his talking - and his spending - on the track.
The billionaire made just one low-key public appearance during Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. He was finally spotted by eagle-eyed TV cameras on lap 23 of the race, but by that point his Red Bull team’s chances of victory had fizzled out.
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was lagging a lap off the pace and would later retire. Canada race winner Daniel Ricciardo had to settle for eighth after being shunted out of position at the start.


THREE men have been arrested after two female backpackers were found with severe neck injuries in their tent at a popular trekking spot in Morocco.
The tourists from Denmark and Norway, who were in their twenties, were discovered yesterday near the village of Imlil in the High Atlas mountain range where they had set up their tent.
They have been named as Louisa Jespersen, 24, from Denmark and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway who were on a month long trip across the North African country.
According to Morocco World News, a witness, who asked to not to be named, said the women were “allegedly found decapitated”, although this has not been verified.
Their bodies were found in a “remote mountainous region” about 6.2 miles from the centre of the village.
It is reported that three suspects from Marrakesh, who were camping nearby, have been arrested in connection with the murder.
Police are also said to have identified the suspects through CCTV in local shops in the village.
One of the suspects, according to the source, also left his ID card behind at the camp.
She said: “Her first priority was safety.


(Image: Runtastic Moment Classic (left); Runtastic Moment Elite (Centre); Runtastic Fun (Right).
Runtastic, the mobile-focused fitness tracking company that was recently acquired by Adidas for $239 has just launched its first official smartwatch.
Like every other smartwatch-wristband in the market, the analog wristwatch by Adidas doubles as an activity tracker called the Runtastic Moment. The smartwatch is brimming with pretty impressive abilities and has a combination of sensors, active minutes, and calories burned, as well as sleep cycles. Perhaps, the most exciting of all is that the analog wristwatch is waterproof up to 300 feet, which means it can be worn during swimming. It doesn’t exactly help wearer’s with swimming-related tracking, but it in the near future, Runtastic hopes to add features that may help track swim strokes.
Its nonchargeable battery life looks promising as well. Runtastic estimated that the watch should last for about 6 month on a standard coin battery.
Runtastic Moment pairs wirelessly over Bluetooth to share data with its accompanying eponymous for iPhone and Android.
Runstastic Moment comes in offers four models across two different price points.
The Fun and the Basic version have a stainless steel case, a silicon strap and come at $130, with the Basic having a slightly larger watch face. Both the version as available in four colors – plum, sand, raspberry, and indigo.
While, the Elite Moment and the Moment Classic are designed with a more “classy” face and come at $180. The Elite version has a black leather strap, while the Moment version is available in silver, gold and rose gold.
All models have analog faces, where the main hands show minutes and hours just like any other watch, but the smaller dial shows 0-100% of progress on whatever goal the user has set through the Runtastic mobile app.
It’s not the health-and-fitness mobile app maker's first product in the market. Earlier this year, it announced the $110 Orbit activity-tracker that is set to release in December 2015.


• Denzel Washington, who directs and stars in the inspirational movie The Great Debaters. The movie's based on true events (which means that some of it is fictionalised and not to be taken as gospel truth, but the essence of truth is very apparent) that happened at Wiley College, Texas, in the Thirties, when an African-American college debate team, against all odds, achieved something approaching glory.
The main debaters are played by Jurnee Smollett, Nate Parker and Denzel Whitaker and they all have fire in their bellies.
Ms Smollett and Mr Parker play composite characters featuring traits of many real-life students who were at Wiley in the Thirties.
Mr Whitaker portrays someone real: James Farmer Jr., who later became one of the leading architects of the Civil Rights movement. (In this film, his father is played by Forest Whitaker - no relation!) Washington himself plays Melvin Tolson, the Wiley professor and poet who coached the debating team. I loved a lot about this film, particularly the sense that these characters had such a passion for knowledge.
They used words as weapons in the battle to overcome woeful racial strife. They had little of what our students have today, except a desire to learn, which they possessed in abundance. Washington and his screenwriter Robert Eisele cover a lot of ground in this movie and we see scenes of harrowing anguish, coupled with some of the most moving film moments I've seen in a while.
Washington does a far superior job with The Great Debaters than he did with the over-sweetened Antwone Fisher. The Great Debaters is about something: standing up for what you believe in. The movie opens here on February 8.
Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, who helped back the Afghans when the Soviets invaded, there are also scenes that will make you ponder about what goes on in this world. Ostensibly it's not a war film; rather, it's a wry exploration of how a man used his wits to get something done. Hanks is good but Hoffman steals it. I loved the bit of banter when Wilson (Hanks) asks a CIA spook (Hoffman) if he drinks. 'Oh, God, yeah!' he responds. Actually, the movie's like a very welcome - and well shaken - cocktail.
• Thelma Ruby, an actress who has given her whole life to the theatre. Thelma's comic timing is second to none. She was in Cabaret with Judi Dench (the original London run!) but I first ran into her when she did a series of fun shows at the King's Head in Islington and I was bowled over by her. From Monday, Thelma is headlining That's Entertainment, accompanied by pianist Jonathan Williams, at the New End Theatre in Hampstead. The show runs till January 13 - call 0870 033 2733 for info or visit ww.newendtheatre.co.uk.


England captain Harry Kane and star players Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard and Jordan Henderson were rested against a weakened Belgium team.
England fans refused to rest even if many of the national side’s first team were on the sidelines as the Three Lions World Cup group stage ended with a whimper against Belgium.
The largest contingent of England fans of the tournament so far packed into the 33,900-seater Kaliningrad Stadium and created a wall of noise until England went 1-0 down.
England captain Harry Kane and star players Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard and Jordan Henderson were rested against a weakened Belgium team, amid pre-match debate over whether it was more beneficial to finish second in the group and earn a potentially easier route to the final.
Not the result we wanted, but the #ThreeLions go through to the last 16 of the #WorldCup regardless.
But England’s players disappointed many fans in Kaliningrad who wanted to keep the winning run going, as the Three Lions ran out 1-0 losers.
Robert Blundell, 49, from Worcester, left early with his son Thomas, 20.
He said: “I genuinely feel I’ve been made a fool of because he changed the team so much.
“You’ve got to win every game.
“You’ve got to keep momentum, play strikers when they are hot.
“You’ve got to play them all to win.
“I’ve been watching England away for 20 years and it’s the first time I’ve come away feeling I’ve been made a fool of.
Michael Milner, 23, from Hope Valley, in Derbyshire, was able to look on the bright side of the result, which meant England will play their next match in Moscow.
“We’ve got an easier route to the final and it’ll save us a hundred quid flight from Moscow to Rostov,” he said.
“Ruben Loftus-Cheek was quality in the second half.
“Me and a friend have got tickets for round of 16, quarters and semi if England get there.
Josh McVeigh was also remaining positive despite the defeat.
The 25-year-old, from Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, still believed “100%” England could go all the way.
He said: “There’s two teams with not a lot to play for – it wasn’t as good as the last two but it was all right.
“It also proved Belgium’s strength in depth is a lot better than ours – their second team is a lot better than ours.
“I know it was only Panama but that was England’s record ever World Cup win so we’ve got to be optimistic, haven’t we really?
But Aidan Lill, 27, from Hull, East Yorkshire, was disappointed with England’s effort on the pitch.
He said: “I think both the teams were fairly evenly matched.
“Either team could have won it and I think we just wanted it less.
The Football Association sold out its allocation of 3,003, with the number of tickets sold to fans with UK addresses by Fifa amounting to 3,360 more.
With up to 6,363 England supporters in the stadium, the Three Lions support outnumbered their Belgian opponents, who made up 4,139.
Having made their presence felt in the centre of Kaliningrad throughout the day, singing and posing for photos with locals, the England support appeared to take over one end of the stadium.
Flags from all corners of the country were draped from the top tier, including Exeter, Barnsley, Hull and Brentford.
Spontaneous renditions of the national anthem punctuated an otherwise unremarkable first-half.
But the crowd was deflated after Belgium went 1-0 up as the prospect of facing Colombia in the last 16 dawned.


Blogcritics.org has partnered with Shaun OMac Daily’s popular weekly web radio show SUBJECT2DISCUSSION, which airs Tuesday nights at 7 pm PT, 10 pm ET on the LV Rocks site, for a weekly pop culture report on the show from 8-8:30 PT.
We are equally flattered to have been asked, Shaun, thanks!
I presented last night’s inaugural segment and had a jolly time chatting with Shaun about the ’06 Rock Hall inductees, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film, and Michael Jackson’s latest disasters.
For those who miss the program live, the show is available via podcast. If you have an iPOD this is the iPOD RSS URL. For those sans iPOD, the podcast is can be accessed from this page.
Last night’s show specifically is here.
Join us every Tuesday live or via podcast at your convenience!


Infants delivered via cesarean section may have about twice the risk of becoming obese as infants delivered vaginally, according to a new study published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Researchers recruited more than 1,250 pregnant women from the Boston area and followed their children until the age of 3.
They found that at 3 years old, 15.7 percent of children delivered by C-section were already obese, while only 7.5 percent of children delivered vaginally were obese.
The mother's body mass index and the baby's weight at birth did not play a big role in predisposing children to obesity, the researchers explained. Previous research, however, has linked maternal obesity to obesity in their children.
Dr. Susanna Huh, lead author and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the findings still need to be confirmed in later studies, but they suggest that women considering having a C-section that isn't medically necessary should know that their children may be at higher risk for obesity.
"Almost one in three children are delivered by C-section in the U.S., and if cesarean delivery is a risk factor for obesity, this would be an important reason to avoid them if they aren 't necessary," Huh said.
But not all mothers who had elective cesareans would heed that advice.
Morgan Roberts of Wilton, Conn. opted for C-sections when she had both of her children, now 4 and 2. She went that route because the first time, she said, she was experiencing joint pain from Lyme disease. For her second child's birth, she wasn't having any medical problems, but just chose to have a C-section.
"They are literally the opposite end of the spectrum from obese," she told ABC News in an email. "As a matter of fact, I have to increase their calories as much as I can because they are superactive and actually below weight."
Roberts said even if she knew about this relationship between obesity and C-section deliveries, she would not have changed her mind. She believes that diet and exercise play a much bigger role in childhood obesity.
"Had all this research come out before I chose to have my C-section I would not have been swayed at all," she said. "I am a very active adult, (as well as my husband), and we strongly value eating well and engaging our children in a variety of activities."
The mechanism behind the relationship between C-sections and obesity is unknown, but Huh and her co-authors speculated there could be a few possible explanations.
"One possibility is that different modes of delivery may affect the bacterial communities established in the body at birth. This could affect obesity by affecting the absorption of nutrients from the diet, or the bacteria in the gut might interact with host cells in ways that promote obesity," she said.
"Another possible explanation is that hormones and protein signals released during labor may have an effect on the development of obesity," she added.
But Dr. Ann Budzak-Garza, a pediatrician with Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wis., said based on her experience as a physician, the findings are inexplicable.
"Our C-section rate at Gundersen is only about 20 percent, which is a lot lower than what's reported in the study," she said. "But the incidence of childhood obesity in La Crosse County is actually higher than in other parts of the country. One in three children is overweight or obese."
But she did say that if there is such a relationship, breastfeeding may play a role.
"It's well known that breastfeeding decreases the chances of obesity in children. A C-section makes breast feeding more challenging, and surgery delays when the milk comes in usually by at least a day. It's also a major abdominal surgery, which is painful."
The authors didn't find that feeding played a role, but the data could be hiding something that's difficult to find.
< "There could be subtle effects of feeding they couldn't tease out of the data," said Dr. Ian Holzman, chief of newborn medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He was also not involved in the study.
Other than some small studies, there hasn't been much research that explored the association between obesity and type of delivery, Huh said.
Holzman said while he wasn't very familiar with the link between obesity and C-section delivery, the study is important because it reinforces the message that unnecessary cesareans can be dangerous to mothers and babies.
"C-section babies are known to have a bit more breathing problems around the time of birth and a bit higher incidence of ending up in the neonatal intensive care unit. There are also potential risks related to feeding problems, and this study suggests there might also be another effect," he said. "It's worth thinking about whether there are other impacts of C-sections."
+Child Obesity Ads: Public Service or Put-Down?


[ Litigation ] : The ABA Journal named HealthBlawg one of the Top 100 Blawgs of 2009. From HealthBlawg owner David Harlow, "I am a health care lawyer and consultant with over twenty years of public and private sector experience, which has given me a unique perspective on legal, policy and business issues facing the health care community. Health care providers, vendors and payors of all shapes and sizes rely on me to help them navigate the maze of regulatory and business issues facing them on a daily basis" (http://healthblawg.typepad.com/about.html).


A quiet, profound meditation on martyrdom, based on a true story of Trappist monks.
Conventional Christian film gets emotional boost by powerful acting and character study.
Life has been hard for Louis Gossett Jr. since winning an Oscar in 1983; his own addictions weren't much help. But he's found God and grace in recent years.
Huckabee speaks with CT on issues like immigration and the environment, the faith of politicians, and a possible presidential candidacy.
Since having a few big years in CCM, Shaun Groves has been focusing on his work with Compassion International.
Shades of Twilight Zone and Left Behind can't overcome this film's problems.
The deeper implications are void because this thriller lacks thrills.
An alien with budding superpowers hides from assassins by pretending to go to high school.
New math for those addicted to getting higher and higher in their churches.
The songs of gospel legend Mavis Staples cover 60 years of American history.
Adam Sandler. Vulgar humor and stupidity. Oh, and some rom-com sweetness.
Shakespeare, Elton John, and Garden Gnomes come together in a tale of love and lawns.
Why Egypt's Christians might actually be safer if the Muslim Brotherhood were a part of the ruling government.
Many 2010 movies echo the recurrent theme of Scripture.
The Obama administration must send a clear signal to Egypt and the Middle East that they must embrace religious freedom in full.
Over the Rhine's fans have always connected with their songs, and with 'The Long Surrender,' that connection is stronger than ever. A conversation with Linford Detweiler.
For the third straight year, a Pixar flick tops our list.
Why Jesus did not say, "Market your neighbor as yourself."


ASUNCION – Paraguayan political parties and civil society organizations met Wednesday to begin a series of discussions planned by the government regarding the establishment of a possible electoral reform.
Interior Minister Juan Ernesto Villamayor gave start to the first day of discussions, during which the participating parties have highlighted the need to carry out the electoral reform before the 2020 municipal elections.
Delegates from the main opposition Liberal Party addressed the importance of establishing an electronic voting system, as well as campaign finance controls.
The left-leaning Guasu Front, which allied itself with the Liberal Party in last April’s general election, insisted on the need to carry out a structural electoral reform that includes the resignation or impeachment of the members of the country’s Superior Court of Electoral Justice (TSJE).
Oppositions delegates also highlighted the importance of establishing efficient campaign finance controls, an issue that has taken center stage in Paraguay after a police operation last week against a drug-trafficking organization led to 30 people being charged, including Ulises Quintana, a lawmaker with the ruling Colorado Party.
During his opening speech, Villamayor said that the government’s role is to encourage a “debate of ideas” and listen to proposals from the different parties, while inviting delegates to form working tables on specific issues to make progress ahead of the next meeting, set for October.


I'm putting aside the regular comics spotlight column this week to talk about the comics and animated creations of the late Dwayne McDuffie who unexpectedly passed away last week at the far-too-young age of forty-nine.
I was in shock when I first heard the news that such a strong, vital voice had been silenced. Sadness set in as I realized that not only had I lost a writer whose work I admired but this loss would touch my children as well. McDuffie was the writer who adapted Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman, which was just released on DVD last week. He was the producer of Ben10 Alien Force,* Ben10: Ultimate Alien*, and Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network. My younger two children love the Ben10 shows and it was *JLU that introduced them to many DC comics heroes.
In an industry adverse to change, McDuffie never quit pushing to have heroes that reflected all the different peoples of America. He co-founded Milestone Comics and created Static, who had his own television show beginning in 2000 and ran for four season. McDuffie wrote a number of the Static Shock episodes for television.
McDuffie is the reason that millions of children are looking at the trailer for the newGreen Lantern movie and asking, "wait, I thought Green Lantern was John Stewart?"
I knew him a little bit, though not well, as a poster on Gail Simone's comics forum. He was unfailingly gracious, friendly, and funny. His friends paid tribute to him last week at a memorial held at Golden Apple Comics.
Beyond that, he was one of the writers who never forgot the "hero" part of "superhero." In this day of deconstructing heroes, when Watchmen is sometimes held as the gold standard of superhero stories, McDuffie's stories were about hope and compassion, not about loss and despair. His people were human and flawed but still heroes.
There is one scene from the finale of JLU that has been passed around by comic readers in the last week as emblematic of McDuffie's storytelling. It seems especially poignant in the reality of his untimely death.
And he never stopped pushing for the big two superhero companies to include more minorities in their comics. Milestone Comics was part of that—an entire universe where African-American superheroes were the norm, not the exception. Milestone currently has a publishing relationship with DC Comics and the characters are now part of DC's story universe.
If you haven't read any of McDuffie's comics and want to start, there's no better place than his first mini-series for Marvel Comics, Damage Control, about a construction company in the Marvel universe that specializes in repairing damage created by fights between superheroes and supervillains. There is also the Static volume linked above and Icon, a Milestone character he co-created and wrote for four years. McDuffie called it "his best work."
While I wish that he had survived to write many more books and animated shows, I am very grateful for the work he has left with us.


Other facilties include complimentary daybeds and umbrellas, a selection of quick service restaurants, an arcade, a souvenir shop, two bars for adult beverages and plenty of parking and locker rooms. Recent guests to the park said the huge selection of slides were perfect for kids and adults of all ages, and lines were rarely long.
The waterpark is located in the center of the island about 8 miles west of Corfu Town. Aqualand is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from mid-May to early October. Admission passes range from a discounted afternoon pass (good from 3 to 6 p.m.) for 14 euros (about $17.50) for children ages 12 and younger and 19 euros (about $23) for adults to weeklong passes for 50 euros (about $62) for children and 70 euros (about $87) for adults. One day passes cost 19 euros (about $23) for children and 27 euros (about $33) for adults. Children ages four and youngers are always free. For more information, check out Aqualand's website.


Researchers have exploited a structural vulnerability in the "superbug" Staphylococcus aureus that in laboratory experiments and a mouse study opened the bacterium to treatment with an anti-cholesterol medication. This follows the 2005 discovery that a pigment provides a "golden armor" that enables staph to evade the immune system.
An article published Feb.14 in the online version of Science (Science Express) describes the study, which was conducted by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the National Taiwan University in Taipei, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of California, San Diego.
After treatment with the drug - which had progressed through preclinical testing in rats and two early clinical trials in humans as a cholesterol-fighting medication - staph bacteria were about 15 times more susceptible to killing by hydrogen peroxide and were four-fold less able to survive in human blood, according to George Y. Liu, M.D., Ph.D., one of the article's co-first authors. Liu directs a laboratory focusing on staph aureus research at Cedars-Sinai's Immunobiology Research Institute.
In a study of systemic staph infection, the researchers found a 50-fold decrease in bacteria in laboratory mice treated with the drug, said Liu, who also serves as an assistant professor of pediatrics at Cedars-Sinai.
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium that flourishes on the skin and in the nose of one in three people. It can cause a wide range of infections, from minor skin abscesses to life-threatening systemic infections. It is often considered a superbug because it is highly contagious and adaptive, and some strains have become extremely resistant to antibiotics. These drug-resistant strains, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, are responsible for more deaths than HIV/AIDS in the United States and are increasingly found in schools and other community facilities in which people are in close contact.
Because few new antibiotics with MRSA-fighting potential appear on the horizon, scientists are seeking alternative approaches. In 2005, Liu and other researchers discovered that a pigment giving staph aureus cells their yellow-orange color - "aureus" is Latin for "golden" - actually fend off key immune system cells. Neutrophils and macrophages kill most bacteria, but staphyloxanthin, the staph aureus pigment, neutralizes their bacteria-killing chemicals.
"Initially, we were intrigued by this color and the pigment, which is a carotenoid pigment, similar to beta-carotene found in tomatoes, carrots and bright-colored vegetables. Carotenoids in the diet and in vitamin tablets are thought to have antioxidant properties, meaning they may help protect human cells from harmful substances released when the cells use oxygen. We wondered if this carotenoid pigment could be protecting staph aureus from neutrophils and macrophages of the immune system," said Liu, first author of the 2005 article that appeared in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. At the time, he was a senior research fellow at UCSD, working with Victor Nizet, M.D., professor of pediatrics and pharmacy, who also was involved in the new study.
After publication of the original "golden armor" study, which received international attention, Liu and Nizet were contacted by Eric Oldfield, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biophysics at the University of Illinois, who recruited Andrew Wang, Ph.D., and other specialists in Taiwan to help study the crystal structure of the pigment-producing enzyme.
"He pointed out that a biochemical pathway that allows staph aureus to make the pigment is very similar, in the early steps, to the pathway that makes cholesterol," Liu said. "If you compare the two pathways, you see that one of the initial enzymes required to make the staph aureus pigment is very similar to an enzyme for the cholesterol pigment."
The researchers found that not only were the initial steps similar, but a drug designed to block the activity of the cholesterol-producing enzyme also was capable of binding to and interrupting the staphyloxanthin-related enzyme. Stripped of its golden pigment, staph aureus became open to attack by immune system cells and bacteria-killing chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide.
About the time the first study was published, the National Research Council (NRC), acknowledging the limitations of antibiotics, conducted workshops on future approaches for treating virulent bacterial infections. Based in part on the potential recognized in that study, the NRC encouraged further investigation into the specific neutralization of bacterial virulence factors to render pathogenic bacteria susceptible to innate immune system clearance.
"Our latest work is a follow-up to the NRC's recommendations, almost point by point," Liu said. "Because of the collaboration of a group of scientists with expertise in different areas, we were able to identify a novel way of disarming the pathogen and making it more susceptible."
Co-authors contributing to the study include Chia-I Liu, Ph.D., Wen-Yih Jeng, Ph.D., and Andrew H.-J. Wang, Ph.D., of Academia Sinica and National Taiwan University in Taipei; Eric Oldfield, Ph.D., Yongcheng Song, Ph.D., and Fenglin Yin, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Victor Nizet, M.D.,and Mary E. Hensler, Ph.D. of the University of California, San Diego.
Science, "A Cholesterol Lowering Agent Inhibits Staphylococcus aureus Virulence," published online in Science Express Feb. 14, 2008. The article will appear in the March 7, 2008 print edition of Science.
The work was supported by grants from the United States Public Health Service and the National Core Facility of High-Throughput Protein Crystallography, Academia Sinica (Taiwan). Dr. Liu was supported by a Burroughs-Wellcome Career Award and a RO1 grant from the NIH. A University of Illinois collaborator was supported by a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Special Fellowship.
Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical. "New Strategy Cracks Staph Bacterium's "Golden Armor," Making It Vulnerable To Treatment." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 15 Feb. 2008. Web.


Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince has an ambitious list of to-dos: modernise his conservative kingdom, weaken Iran’s hand across the Mideast and, this week, rehabilitate his country’s image in the eyes of Americans.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, son of King Salman and heir to the throne, is opening a marathon tour of the United States with a stop in Washington, where he plans to meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday. He’ll hold separate meetings with a long roster of influential US officials, including the secretaries of defense, treasury and commerce, the CIA chief and congressional leaders from both parties.
The visit comes as the United States and much of the West are still trying to figure out Crown Prince Mohammed, better known by his initials MBS, whose sweeping program of social changes at home and increased Saudi assertiveness abroad has upended decades of traditional rule in Saudi Arabia.
The 32-year-old crown prince also has big economic plans, and over three weeks in the US he will meet businessmen in New York, tech mavens from Google and Apple Inc. in San Francisco, and entertainment bigwigs in Los Angeles. Other stops include Boston and Houston.
It’s a message that has earned MBS admirers in the United States, as he allowed women to drive and opened movie theaters shuttered since the 1980s. MBS is turning “Saudi Arabia into a normal country in which normal people lead normal lives”, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters Monday.
Yet, Democrats and Republicans have approached some of the crown prince’s other bold steps with trepidation, particularly as they pertain to his anti-Iran efforts. One bill in Congress proposes scaling back US military assistance to a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.
MBS, in particular, has been closely identified with the three-year-old war in the Arab world’s poorest country, which started while he was defense minister. The Saudis and their allies are fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels, but international organisations have harshly criticized the coalition’s airstrikes and blockading of Yemeni ports for contributing to thousands of civilian deaths and a humanitarian catastrophe.
It’s not the only regional mess the Saudis are in.
In November, US officials voiced unease when Lebanon’s prime minister unexpectedly resigned while in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia was accused of attempting to bring down Lebanon’s government, which is strongly influenced by Iranian proxy Hezbollah. Prime Minister Saad Hariri later reversed his resignation.
The Saudis are working aggressively to change perceptions. They’ve cast themselves as essential partners against Islamist extremist groups and, especially since Trump’s maiden overseas voyage last year, touted their lavish purchases of high-tech goods from job-creating American companies. In Yemen, the Kingdom says it is improving military targeting, opening up ports and pledging $1.5 billion in new aid.
In MBS, Trump will find a sympathetic ear for his calls to crack down on Iran, Saudi Arabia’s archenemy, and strengthen a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran that former President Barack Obama and world powers brokered. Trump has threatened to pull out of the agreement unless there are changes by May. Last week, Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, an advocate of staying in the accord, choosing Mike Pompeo, the current CIA director and nuclear deal critic, as a replacement.
MBS could dangle a huge carrot in front of Trump for his support. Stock exchanges in New York and elsewhere are vying for the international listing of Aramco, the Saudi oil behemoth expected to go public soon.
Saudi concerns with New York include a post-9/11 law that could jeopardize assets in the United States if victims’ families claim Saudi Arabia helped the al-Qaida attackers and sue for compensation.
Although the US has welcomed MBS’s determination to purge pervasive corruption in Saudi Arabia, including by royals, the Trump administration hasn’t endorsed his tactics. Last year, more than 150 high-level princes, ministers, military officials and businessmen were abruptly rounded up and detained at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. They eventually paid settlements that Saudi Arabia says exceeded $106 billion.
Al-Jubeir, the foreign minister, said the tough tactics were needed after past anti-corruption campaigns failed.


Was the rainbow-haired 22-year-old involved in the gunfire?
(AllHipHop News) Daniel "Tekashi69" Hernandez may have taken his troll campaign too far. According to reports, the NYPD is investigating the "Kooda" rapper for a shooting involving Chief Keef.
6ix9ine has been beefing with Sosa for the last few weeks. The bad blood led to the Brooklyn rhymer calling out other Chicago natives as well as him taking the mother of Chief Keef's child shopping in New York City.
Earlier this month, Keef was even shot at while in New York's Time Square. Tekashi was reportedly in Los Angeles at the time of the shooting, but police are now looking into whether he was connected to the two suspected gunmen.
6ix9ine has denied any involvement with the incident. He actually blamed the shooting outside the W Hotel on Chief Keef being a "gangster rapper" and promoting violence in his music.
Additionally, Tekashi's manager, Tr3yway, is said to be under investigation for two other violent episodes. One of those shootings happened inside Brooklyn's Barclay's Center following 6ix9ine's crew allegedly clashing with Casanova and his entourage.
In 2015, Hernandez pled guilty to the use of a child in a sexual performance. His plea deal required that he not commit another crime before his official sentencing. He was also required to complete a GED course in order to avoid serving prison time.


The video above is from an Jan. 2017 report.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has issued permits for a planned copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota.
The agency said Thursday it had issued permits to Poly Met Mining Inc. for the company's proposed NorthMet mining project. But the project still requires permits from other agencies.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources issued a permit to mine, six water appropriation permits, two dam safety permits, a public water work permit and an endangered species taking permit.
DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said: "No project in the history of Minnesota has been more thoroughly evaluated."
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Landwehr said the project still needs to receive additional permits from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"The permit conditions are designed so that we can have confidence that the project can be built, operated and reclaimed in compliance with Minnesota's rigorous environmental standards, which are designed to protect human health and the environment," Landwehr said during the press conference. "DNR will have continuing authority to monitor and enforce the permit conditions."
Landwehr added that the permits includes provisions for wetland replacement and financial insurance.
"Financial insurance a package of financial instruments that are available to the state to pay for any cleanup, reclamation or long-term water treatment should the company fail to comply with the permit," he said.
Environmentalists have opposed the mine for fear it could pollute pristine waters. And reaction from opponents was swift Thursday.
"We believe that the PolyMet mine is the wrong kind of mine in the wrong kind of place and it's a danger to Minnesota," said Paula Maccabe of Water Legacy.
"It will probably be hundreds of years before the pollution on this site goes away," said Aaron Klemz of the Minnesota Center For Environmental Advocacy.
PolyMet says it can operate the proposed mine near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt without harming the environment while creating hundreds of badly needed jobs on Minnesota's Iron Range.
Maccabee said environmentalists will likely appeal if permits are granted, or they could request the DNR to reconsider its decision.
Numerous lawmakers issued statements following the DNR's decision.
"As a former Iron Ranger, I'm elated to see the PolyMet project finally moving forward. This will have a huge economic impact for families on the Range; it will change their lives for the better," Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said. "It's unfortunate we had to spend 15 years fighting for it."
"Today's long overdue decision to grant permits for the PolyMet copper-nickel mine is great news for the Iron Range and for all of Minnesota," House Speaker Kurt Daudt said. "This new mine will create many good-paying jobs in Northeastern Minnesota and provide a real boost to our state's economy. This process has demonstrated our state's commitment to environmentally-sound investment and development, but also shows that we desperately need more certainty in our state's permitting process.


What does it mean to Dharyus Thomas to be the first area boys’ basketball players of the year from Southwest since Jamaal Williams was named the best in 2010?
The senior certainly had several big moments this past season.
Thomas scored at least 20 points in 11 games and had a trio of 30-plus point efforts en route to finishing with an 18.6 point per game average.
But he wasn’t just a scorer. Thomas also spearheaded the Stallions’ defense with 1.9 steals to go along with 2.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds.
And because of his efforts, Thomas is The Daily News player of the year for the 2018-19 boys’ basketball season.
White Oak’s Derreco Miller (13.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists) was also considered for the honor, but the 17-year-old Thomas got the edge following votes received by the coaches and the newspaper’s sports staff.
Southwest coach Eric Kliewer said Thomas was well-deserving to be player of the year.
But what exactly did that mean?
But Thomas also led by example in helping the Stallions go 14-10 overall, 10-4 in the Coastal 8 1-A/2-A Conference and earn a spot in the NCHSAA playoffs.
He was Southwest’s top perimeter defender, and made it a habit of forcing turnovers and turning into transition points. A few of those transition chances resulted in monstrous slam dunks that excited the Southwest faithful.
Kliewer added that Thomas wasn’t a scorer who simply found his points in transition. The coach said Thomas again showed this season he could make 3-pointers, but also make jump shots from inside the arc.
Thomas said he appreciated those opportunities.
Thomas also credited his teammates.
And Thomas came up big all season.


The weekly UPI Blast from the Past package for Nov. 18-24.
Today is Thursday, Nov. 22, the 326th day of 2001 with 39 to follow.
René Moawad (April 17, 1925 - November 22, 1989) (Arabic: رينيه معوض) was President of Lebanon for 17 days in 1989, from the 5th to the 22nd of November, when he was assassinated. Although pro-Syrian forces were widely suspected, no clear assassin has been indicted for his killing.
A Maronite Christian noted for his moderate views, Moawad had given some citizens hope that the long civil war in Lebanon could be ended. He was an example of non-violence and accepting the other in the Arab world, his culture of non-confrontation and troubleshooting conflict and his courage led all of the Lebanese parties to accept him as a president to end the war. Before he died, Moawad had addressed the nation with these words: "There can be no country or dignity without unity of the people, and there can be no unity without agreement, and there can be no agreement without conciliation, and there can be no conciliation without forgiveness and compromise." He was succeeded by Elias Hrawi.
Mouawad was educated at De La Salle School in Tripoli, before pursuing his secondary education at the Saint Joseph College in Aintoura. He went to Saint Joseph University in Beirut, graduating with a law degree in 1947. He subsequently joined the law firm of Abdallah El-Yafi, a former Prime Minister before opening his own law firm in Tripoli in 1951.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rene Moawad."


Ingersoll-Rand Plc , the maker of Trane air conditioners and Thermo King refrigeration units, reported better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by a rebound in the U.S. housing market.
Third-quarter net income fell 48 percent to $165.9 million, or 56 cents per share, from $321.6 million, or $1.03 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.3 percent to $3.75 billion.
Excluding items, the company earned $1.16 per share from continuing operations. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.10 per share on revenue of $3.73 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.


Some Jewish leaders are encouraging Jews to see Jesus as one of their own.
(CNN) - The relationship between Jews and Jesus has traditionally been a complicated one, to say the least.
As his followers' message swept the ancient world, Jews who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah found themselves in the uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous, position of being blamed for his death.
Mainstream Christian theology's position held that Judaism had been supplanted, the Jewish covenant with the divine no longer valid, because of the incarnation of God as Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross.
Jews, for their part, tended largely to ignore Jesus.
In the past year, a spate of Jewish authors, from the popular to the rabbinic to the scholarly, have wrestled with what Jews should think about Jesus.
And overwhelmingly, they are coming up with positive answers, urging their fellow Jews to learn about Jesus, understand him and claim him as one of their own.
"Jesus is a Jew. He spent his life talking to other Jews," said Amy-Jill Levine, co-editor of the recently released "Jewish Annotated New Testament."
"In reading the New Testament, I am often inspired, I am intrigued. I actually find myself becoming a better Jew because I become better informed about my own history," she said.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a media personality who recently launched a bid for a U.S. House seat, argues in his own new book, "Kosher Jesus," that "Jews have much to learn from Jesus - and from Christianity as a whole - without accepting Jesus' divinity. There are many reasons for accepting Jesus as a man of great wisdom, beautiful ethical teachings, and profound Jewish patriotism."
And Benyamin Cohen, an Orthodox Jew who spent a recent year going to church, admitted that he's jealous that Christians have Jesus.
"He's a tangible icon that everybody can latch on to. Judaism doesn't have a superhero like that," said Cohen, the author of the 2009 book "My Jesus Year."
"I'm not advocating for Moses dolls," he said, but he argued that "it's hard to believe in a God you can't see. I'm jealous of Christians in that regard, that they have this physical manifestation of the divine that they can pray to.
"There could be more devout Jews than me who don't need that, but to a young Jew living in the 21st century, I wish we had something more tangible," he said.
The flurry of recent Jewish books on Jesus - including this month's publication of "The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ" by Daniel Boyarin - is part of a trend of Jews taking pride in Jesus, interfaith expert Edward Kessler said.
"In the 1970s and 1980s, Christian New Testament scholars rediscovered the Jewish Jesus. They reminded all New Testament students that Jesus was Jewish," said Kessler, the director of the Woolf Institute in Cambridge, England, which focuses on relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims.
A generation later, that scholarship has percolated into Jewish thought, he said, welcoming the trend: "It's not a threat to Jews and it's not a threat to Christians."
For Jews in particular, he said, "It's not so threatening as it was even 30 years ago. There is almost a pride that Jesus was a Jew rather than an embarrassment about it."
Boteach agrees, writing in "Kosher Jesus" that "Jews will gain much from re-embracing him as a hero."
"The truth is important," Boteach writes. "A patriot of our people has been lost. Worse still, he's been painted as the father of a long and murderous tradition of anti-Semitism."
Boteach aims to claim, or reclaim, Jesus as a political rebel against Rome and to exonerate the Jews of his death. But Boteach's book has attracted plenty of criticism, for instance for blaming the Apostle Paul for everything he doesn't like about Christianity, such as hailing Jesus as divine and cutting his ties to Judaism.
"Paul never met Jesus, and Jesus certainly never would have sanctioned Paul's actions and embellishments," Boteach argues about the apostle who wrote much of the New Testament. "Jesus ... would have been appalled at how his followers would later define him."
"Jews will never accept his divinity. Nor should they," Boteach writes, in one of many instances of presuming to know what Jesus really thought and meant. "The belief that any man is God is an abomination to Judaism, a position that Jesus himself would maintain."
He cherry-picks the Gospels to to suit his arguments, writes in casual modern idioms (calling Pontius Pilate a "sadistic mass murderer" and comparing him to Hitler), and gets wrong the most basic details of the Passion story, such as the amount of money Judas took to betray Jesus.
Other experts in the field label Boteach's book "sensationalistic," and call him a "popularizer," but Kessler sees "Kosher Jesus" as part of the trend of Judaizing Jesus. Cohen, the "My Jesus Year" author, offered some support for Boteach even as he expressed doubts about the book.
"I understand what Shmuley is trying to get at there," he said, but added: "I don't think anyone has the right to say 'This is the definition of Jesus,' especially a rabbi. He's not ours to claim."
Levine, who teaches New Testament and Jewish studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, also framed Jewish efforts to study Jesus in terms of mutual respect.
"Speaking personally as a Jew, if I want my neighbors to respect Judaism, which means knowing something about Jewish history, scripture and tradition, I owe my Christian neighbors the same courtesy. It's a matter of respect," she said.
She urged Jews to "become familiar with the material and make up their own mind as to how they understand Jesus."
Ironically, she added, Jews can understand their own history more thoroughly through studying the life of Jesus.
"The best source on the period for Jewish history other than (the first-century historian) Josephus is the New Testament," she said.
"It's one of those ironies of history that the only Pharisee writing in the Second Temple period from whom we have records is Paul of Tarsus," she said. " 'The Jewish Annotated New Testament' is designed in part to help Jews recover their own history."
But she also wants Christians to use it to understand Judaism more deeply, she said. While many Christian leaders acknowledge that Jesus was a Jew, she said, not many know much about what that means.
"Many Christian ministers and educators have no training in what early Judaism was like," she said. "Not to take seriously first-century Judaism seems to dismiss part of the message of the New Testament."
Cohen, the "My Jesus Year" author, found that Christians were very interested in Judaism during the 52 weeks he spent going from church to church.
"Many Christians look on Judaism as version 1.0 of their own religion. Because of that historical relationship, they're interested in a lot of the theology of Judaism," he said.
For his part, Cohen learned much that surprised him. "I was shocked when I went to church and heard them give sermons about the Old Testament," he said. "I had no idea Christians read the Old Testament."
"One week, I went to church and the pastor gave exactly the same sermon my rabbi did the night before about Moses and the burning bush, and the pastor did it much better," he continued.
Cohen came away from his Jesus year with a clear understanding of what he believes.
"People ask me all the time if I believe in Jesus. Do I believe he exists? Sure. Do I believe he's your God? Sure, I have no problem with that," he said he tells Christians who ask.
"I understand Christians' love for Jesus and I respect that," he said. "If anything, I learned a lot from them and did become a more engaged Jew, a better Jew, and I appreciate my Judaism more because I hung out with Jesus."
I too believed that Judaism doesn't recognize Jesus at least to follow. I have since been made aware of at least one Jewish place of worship, located in northern Ohio, that feels differently. I've included their url.
Reading the parable of the Net in Matthew 13:47-50 makes it very clear that Jesus had NO INTENTION of creating a religion anything like Pauline Christianity. If he had, there is no way he would have taught this parable.
Here is Jesus the Jew: the Jesus the church would crucify a second time if they could. Comparing the doctrine of Paul and the doctrine of Jesus it becomes increasingly clear to me that the only Jew guilty of crucifiying Jesus is PAUL. He’s the only Jew whose doctrine was sufficiently different enough from Jesus’ doctrine to where its believable that he would want him dead. What a racket Paul had going on!!!!!! Kill your opponent, then proclaim him to be a god who validates your own whacky theology! That Paul was one brilliant devil.
No James, you got it wrong - there is no scripture to support your far-off-the-mark interpretation. The Apostle Paul is 100% in sync with Jesus Christ. In your remarks you separate the "good and the bad" from the "moral and the inmoral"; and there is no such distinction in the Bible and in God's view (or Jesus' view, or the Apostle Paul's view. Good people are moral people, and bad people are inmorale people. You cannot be good while practicing inmorality or be bad and somehow still be morale. But to the "world or heathens" they think that they can be without the other. So God, Jesus, will cast out the bad and only take the "good", those who have accepted Jesus as God and have been "covered" by the blood of Jesus. Even though we are ALL sinners, those who accept Jesus, the second death will not touch them, because God will see them as "under the protection" and will considered "good" in the eyes of God. That is the distinction of how we can be considered "good" in the eyes of God. Those who accept the blood, will be protected just like the Hebrew were protected in Egypt during the "Passover"; the angel of death had to "pass over" and not touch those families' first born children. Accept Him and also be protected from the coming judgment!!!
I agree with Cloud-man Accept Jesus as your Lord and savior so you will be allowed in heaven-Also believe in the Father and Holy Ghost!
I believe in Jesus because he fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecy about the messiah. (It's not the only reason why I am a Christian but its the best way to show Jesus's divinity. The old prophets told us everything we needed to know about the Son, the Savior and clearly it was Jesus. I don't understand why the rabbi's can't identify the messiah prophecies to Jesus. Do they think he didn't perform all the miracles, healed all the sick, was born of a virgin, was betrayed by one of his own, beaten and crucified and in 3 days resurrected from the dead, then ascended to heaven for all us sinners so we can have a chance to go there too?
Jesus has always been a friend to the Jews, being one himself. If you consider the world and how things normally go, if Jesus were not the Messiah how is it that the United States, who calls itself a Christian Nation, would be so strong in their support of the Jewish Nation of Israel if Jesus were not a friend of the Jewish Nation. Think about it. You would think after the Jewish rejection of Christ we would be their greatest enemies, not so. Jesus loves the Jews and everyone else.
The US does not call itself a christian nation. There are some citizens that do say that, but they are wrong. The US is not based in theocracy...it is not a christian nation.
Except for those of us who DO call it a Christian nation. We actually believe that it is more Christian than not (as statistics bear out). Funny enough, there are not yet enough atheists and agnostics here to to call this an atheist or secular nation, although as soon as there are, we'll surely now it in a very real, and painful way. Now China, there is a nation that is not a Christian nation. See the difference? Yeah, it's pretty obvious why we say America is a Christian nation. It's what my drill instructor used to call "monkey easy." It's so easy a monkey can get it. Are any of you dumber than a monkey?
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Yeshua/Jesus was Jewish, their is no debate on that. And His Father was of course God, though born of a human mother. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Both geneologies are given in the NT or New Covenant. Joseph's in Mathew and Mary's in Luke. Both Joseph and Mary were descended from King David. He is the Promised Messiah of Israel. Believe on Him and follow Him as the Holy Spirit leads you and you will know the truth, and the truth will indeed set you free. God bless.
This is retarded. I'm ex Chabad you can have Jesus.
Jesus was not Jewish. He was Galilean, far from Judah and Jerusalem where Jews used to reside. He was from the tribe of Judah which did not make him automaticly a Jew.
The only place he was referred to as a Jew in scripture was by Pilate prior to the cruxifiction and by the woman at the well in Sameria, both who not in a position to know whether he was a Jew or not. Look at the book of John, (after Luke) where is a scathing attack on the Jews, John would never have been so scathing if Jesus was a Jew.
So don't denigirate Christ Jesus by calling him a Jew.
Des Currie; Jesus was a Jewish. Being a Galilean meaning a Jew from Northern Israel land. At that time Jews lived even in Greece, Rome, Cartago, Alexandria etc, not to mention of course Israel land itself. Jews were one tens of the population of the Roman Empire. Judah is just the name of the Southern area of Israel Land, where Judea tribe was settled 1200 years before Jesus. Maria came to born her child to Bethlehem Judea because the core of her large family originated from that place and lived there. Jew means in Medieval Latin Judean. Judea was the Jewish kingdom of the second temple time. First Christians were Jews. Christianity was born within Judaism and was spread well among Gentiles. Jewsus was a Jew and dies as a Jew by the Roman conquerors of the land of Israel called at that time Judea, because most of the Jews were descendants of Judea tribe (while all Judeans were of course Jews. Judean is the Greek word for medieval Latin word for Jew and for Yehudi in Hebrew )Judea = Yehuda / Jew = Yehudi).
Jews are for Christians what Israel is for the world! Christians without Jews are as the world without Israel!!!!
I had a chance to bow my head in front of this icon and the smell of heavenly roses was very strong and myrrh was streaming from the glass. It was a true blessing !
Beautiful. Jew and Goy are 1 in God. We Christians esteem Judaism reciprocity will unite the cause of Zion. Jesus yes was a great Prophet and seperate from God but of one mission of the same will. When we say "Forgive us Jesus" we are praying to Jehovah. The Shema is correct. St.Paul is our friend. He founded Christianity amongst the Roman Empire in order to spread God to all nations. Now Israel exists which proves the God of Moses exists. Thank you Israel for gving us Religion. May Hashem Bless You Forever Israel.
(d) One plus one equals two (1 + 1 = 2) is just one of the infinite constants to be found in mathematics making mathematics the language of Truth.
While growing up a catholic in grade and catholic high school, the thought that the Jews were to blame for Jesus's crucifixation was still present, although not heavily discussed. Things have changed, such as my older sister's catholic pastor and many fundamental evangelistists that it was all part of the plan. They accept Judaism and many strongly support the state of Israel. Sometimes History changes in our minds, or at least in our views. Could there come a time when christians accept Islamics in a similar manner?
So, what point were you trying to make?
The Jews can have him... thankfully, take him, I insist... Please.
No, I am not going to hell, because hell does not exist. But, thank you for caring.
I'm with you, he hasn't done much for mankind so far except to cause trouble.
GG – we are probably both better Christians than you pretend to be.
Thanks man, I'm actually an atheist, but it really shouldn't matter, should it?
No it doesn't matter, that was my point. I have had a long journey going from being raised in a Fundamentalist home to finding my own way.
I can accept that I have a spiritual life, which is the part of me that loves, has empathy, cares for others and practices those parts of life that separates us from the animals. If I do that then I will basically follow the tenants of most religions without the bother of joining one of their cults.


Denver plans to raise more than $150 million over 10 years to address affordable housing.
Denver city officials on Friday unveiled the full version of a proposed five-year housing strategy, but they immediately faced questions about whether the plan sufficiently helps residents at risk of being pushed out by rising costs.
Neighborhoods undergoing rapid redevelopment and exhibiting signs of gentrification would get some help from the plan, Mayor Michael Hancock and his advisers said during a media briefing. Called “Housing an Inclusive Denver,” the 98-page draft plan will be subject to a 45-day public comment period and City Council consideration.
But a group of 21 residents from Globeville and Elyria-Swansea who attended a city forum about a plan framework last week questioned whether the strategy goes far enough to help families and individuals stay in their homes.
“Denver’s growing housing crisis is not only a direct threat to the health and well-being of our families and neighbors, but also jeopardizes the stability of the greater metropolitan region as a whole,” wrote the group, made of up members of Globeville Elyria Swansea Coalition Organizing for Health and Housing Justice, in a joint letter Friday. It was addressed to Hancock, council members and the city’s Housing Advisory Committee.
During Friday’s media briefing, Hancock’s chief housing adviser said the plan would expand on previous city help for tenants and others struggling with rising housing costs as one of many prongs of the strategy. The document is the city’s first stab at a comprehensive plan to begin making use of its newly created 10-year, $150 million affordable housing fund.
Image from "Gentrification Study: Mitigating Involuntary Displacement"
A map produced last year for a city study shows Denver neighborhoods identified as vulnerable to negative effects of gentrification.
“There are two specific programs that are going to provide immediate assistance,” said Erik Soliván, the executive director of Hancock’s housing policy coordination office. “One is a financial eviction and utility assistance program. That will be made available to our communities to ensure that our residents can remain in their homes.
Housing office spokeswoman Julie Smith later said various tenant and homeowner assistance programs are expected to serve at least 10,000 households through 2023.
A new program is expected to help 190 households with temporary rental assistance and 120 with utility payments, she said. A planned expansion next year of a senior and disabled property tax rebate program could help nearly 1,100 more households.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, second from right, discusses the release of the new Housing an Inclusive Denver affordable-housing plan on Sept. 29, 2017. With Hancock are, from left, Housing Advisory Committee chair Kevin Marchman, housing coordination director Erik Soliván and chief financial officer Brendan Hanlon.
The potential initiatives cited by Soliván were outlined in the earlier framework, including the rent buy-down program.
City officials have said that pilot program would include the striking of agreements with property owners, using up to $2 million raised from private and public sources, to secure up to 400 vacant market-rate apartments for rental at lower lease rates to income-qualified tenants.
The broader housing plan also says the city will explore the creation of community land trusts in some neighborhoods where longtime homeowners are at risk of being displaced as property values rise.
That idea, which some of the letter-signers are exploring in their north neighborhoods as the Interstate 70 project nears, involves the purchasing of land beneath homes by a nonprofit organization. It then leases the land back to participating homeowners over the long term, with some restrictions, to help stabilize property values.
The newly released full version of the five-year plan fills in details of the framework but largely hews to that summary document.
The proposed housing strategy, by building on existing programs and proposing new ones, aims to create new housing in economically vulnerable neighborhoods and places with opportunity. Some proposals would preserve existing housing that’s affordably priced but is at risk of rent hikes or purchase by developers.
Officials say they want to help the homeless, renters and homeowners with strategies aimed at a range of income levels.
Through Nov. 13, the city is soliciting feedback on the plan. A revised version then will be submitted to the council for approval.
A Spanish translation of the framework is now available, but a translation of the full plan won’t be available until Oct. 9, the mayor’s office says.


Former Crystal Palace legend Kenny Sansom was cleared of assault at Bromley Magistrates’ Court today and said he was “relieved it’s over”.
The ex-footballer, of Bostall Road in Orpington, had been charged with assaulting his on-off partner Denise Mullins at her home in Hastings Road, Bromley, late last year.
However, after first reporting the incident to police on November 22 she withdrew her statement in January and didn’t attend court.
Mr Sansom, who also made 86 appearances for England and played in two World Cups, said after the case had been dismissed: “I’m relieved. It’s been a long time to wait.
The 55-year-old, who denied a charge of assault by beating, also mentioned his “recovery is going well” after revealing he’d been struggling with drinking problems.
At the trial the court heard how Mr Sansom was said to have been drunk on November 21 and was kept overnight at Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH).
It was reported Ms Mullins had been told of his condition and when she went to collect him at around 6.30am the next morning decided he was too intoxicated and driven home alone.
Prosecution barrister Afolake Jaja said a few hours later Mr Sansom had “banged on the door and windows” before barging into Ms Mullins’ property.
It was said he changed his clothes before telling his partner “I really want to hit you” and pushing her in the chest after she refused to get his coat. But the case was closed not an hour into the trial and Mr Sansom cleared of all wrongdoing.
Chairman of magistrates Ivor Barwin announced the decision at around noon and Mr Sansom was smiling as he left the court room.
Proclaimed as one of Crystal Palace’s finest youth players, he featured for the south London club 172 times and has now taken to working out at events at the club.


NICK SCHNELLE/JOURNAL STAR Pastor Larry Zurek leads a funeral mass for former Peoria Fire Cheief Ernie Russell on Friday morning at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Russell was 74.
NICK SCHNELLE/JOURNAL STAR Jeremy Ott, 10, leans on Sara Russell, left, as the casket of Peoria Fire Chief Ernie Russell is moved on Friday during funeral services at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in downtown Peoria. Russell was 74.
NICK SCHNELLE/JOURNAL STAR Pallbearers carry the casket of former Peoria Fire Chief Ernie Russell on Friday morning during funeral services at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Russell was 74.
NICK SCHNELLE/JOURNAL STAR Peoria Heights firefighter Greg Walters, right, signs his name in the guest book at the funeral mass for former Peoria Fire Chief Ernie Russell on Friday morning at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Russell was 74.
NICK SCHNELLE/JOURNAL STAR Fire trucks lead the funeral procession of former Peoria Fire Chief Ernie Russell on Friday on Monroe Street near the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Russell was 74.
NICK SCHNELLE/JOURNAL STAR Sara Russell, the wife of the late fomer Peoria Fire Chief Ernie Russell, stands as pallbears move her husband’s casket on Friday during funeral services at Resurrection Cemetery.
NICK SCHNELLE/JOURNAL STAR Dena Mather hugs her son Spencer, 10, on Friday during funeral services for retired Peoria Fire Chief Ernie Russell on Friday at Resurrection Cemetery. Russell was 74.
NICK SCHNELLE/JOURNAL STAR A patch for the Oak Lawn Fire Department lies on the casket of former Peoria Fire Chief Ernie Russell on Friday during funeral services at Resurrection Cemetery. Russell was 74.
NICK SCHNELLE/JOURNAL STAR On right, Kristine Marion hugs Sara Russell at the end of funeral services for former Peoria Fire Chief Ernie Russell on Friday at Resurrection Cemetery. Russell was 74.


LAS VEGAS -- Summerlin is where the new Firefly Tapas Kitchen and Bar will be opening.
The new location will be at Sahara and Fort Apache, where Z Tejas was once located.
Richard Crighton, President of Rothwell Gornt said, " We looked at over 30 locations prior to deciding on the former Z Tejas pad at Sahara and Ft. Apache. The space was a perfect fit and the economics of the lease met our criteria. In the end, we are all very excited to see one of Las Vegas' homegrown restaurant phenomena continue to see success and grow."
An opening date for the new Firefly Tapas Kitchen and Bar location has yet to be announced.
LAS VEGAS -- The $850 million Tivoli Village at Queensridge mixed-use development is now scheduled to open in March 2011.
Heavy-duty building work at the village resumed late last year after a 10-month slowdown. Grading and infrastructure work on the 30-acre site started in 2006 and the initial projected opening date was fall 2009. But Tivoli's developers slowed construction in December 2008 to give the economy time to recover.
The development in western Las Vegas near Summerlin said Monday several tenants have signed leases. Tivoli will open with up to 40 retailers, about eight restaurants and several fast-food outlets. Tivoli says it's leasing more than 370,000 square feet of space.


Rhun ap Iorwerth 'loyal to Leanne Wood' Jump to media player Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth, who sparked leadership talk after an interview in the summer, said he was not seeing 'positioning' at his party's conference.
'Fundamental questions for Plaid' Jump to media player BBC Wales political correspondent Daniel Davies says one Plaid AM wants the party to focus on policies that say more about what the party stands for.
Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth, who sparked leadership talk after an interview in the summer, has said he is loyal to current leader Leanne Wood.
The AM for Ynys Mon told BBC Wales political correspondent Aled ap Dafydd he was not seeing "positioning" at the conference.
Mr ap Iorwerth told Radio Cymru in August that he would consider standing for the party's leadership if Ms Wood were to step down.


FIREFIGHTERS are battling a fire which took hold in a house and nearby caravans at a Western Downs property early this morning.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and Rural Fire brigades remain at a Humbug Rd property at Tara fighting the blaze which was reported about 5.30am.
The multiple crews are continuing to extinguish the fire in the house and at least two nearby caravans.


Royal Bank of Scotland moved into profit, from a £2 billion loss, but has committed to continue major restructuring through to 2019.
Attributable profit was £939 million in the half year ended 30 June, a significant rise from the £2 billion loss in the same period in 2016. Operating profit before tax was £1.9 billion.
The bank, which is still over 70% government owned said that it made progress dealing with legacy issues during the period. A settlement was reached with the Federal Housing Finance Agency which cost £151 million, out of the £396 million litigation and conduct costs.
Over the period it finally reached a settlement with the last remaining shareholder action group, which spared its former chief executive Fred Goodwin from having to appear in court, over a 2008 rights issue. The £25 million charge over the period took the total amount paid to investors to over £800 million.
Restructuring costs increased by £160 million to £790 million in the first half. 2017 is expected to be the last peak year of one off costs for the bank.
Chief executive Ross McEwan (pictured) said the results showed ‘the bank that we have been building is starting to produce the results’.
He added: ‘First off we got rid of a number of legacy issues that have been plaguing this organisation, so we can focus on the future.
He said that there is one more ‘outstanding piece of conduct’ the bank has to get through over the year and once that is over the bank will continue to grow.
In addition, the bank has announced that it has created a technology and innovation committee which chairman Howard Davies said ‘demonstrates the importance the Board places on overseeing and monitoring RBS's strategic direction in relation to technology and innovation, ensuring we are meeting our customer needs in a digital-led environment’.
Coutts and Adam & Company, which form the private banking division of RBS reported a 60.8% year-on-year increase in profit to £82 million.
Assets under management rose to £17.9 billion, up 22.6% compared to the same period in 2016. A 5.6% reduction in front office headcount helped reduce operating expenses to £218 million, 14.8% lower than H1 2016.
Coutts CEO Peter Flavel commented: 'As assets under management continue to grow, I am further encouraged by our clients seeing us as more than just a bank - turning to us for all of their financial needs.


A 27-year-old pregnant woman was manhandled by a house owner after she parked her car in front of his house near Begur Road in Madiwala on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said quoting the complainant, the victim, who did not want to be named, parked her car in front of a house, as she wanted to buy some grocery items. The owner of the house came out and started verbally abusing the victim. Both engaged in a heated argument and a few people came in support of the landlord. They pushed the woman into a corner and threatened her not come back to the area again.
When the police rushed to the spot, a group of people who had gathered there tried to downplay the incident. But the victim insisted on registering a complaint, added the police.
A case has been registered in Madiwala police station.


A family pet was killed last week after it was exposed to a rabid raccoon in Aliquippa, a state official reported this week.
A 20-year-old cat was mauled late in the evening of Nov. 17 at a home on Wade Street Extension in the city. The cat had to be euthanized because of its extensive injuries, said Dr. Erin Moore, Region 4 director of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture�s Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services.
Family members found an aggressive raccoon the next afternoon in their detached garage. The animal was captured and tested positive for rabies. No other animals or humans were reported exposed to the raccoon.
However, Moore said it is impossible to determine whether the raccoon may have exposed other domestic or wild animals before it was found in the garage, so she urged anyone who believes livestock or pets might have been exposed to contact the agriculture department at (724) 443-1585.


Our second annual Mashies ceremony, held on Nov. 4 at Gotham Hall, was a huge success. We celebrated the best and brightest in digital communications, alongside the most groundbreaking leaders in marketing, advertising and social media.
The evening kicked off with a VIP bash and cocktail hour, where guests ate, drank and mingled with digital marketers from around the country. Comedians Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld hosted the ceremony, which included lots of laughs, guest presenters and a “native advertising”-inspired drinking game.
Take a look at the gallery below for some of the night’s highlights. You can also check out all of our winners and follow the conversation as it unfolded on social media.
Look forward to seeing you all in 2015!


Senior photographer Thalia Juarez says so long to the basement.
Day two of ACL featuring Echosmith, Father John Misty, Shakey Graves, Twenty One Pilots, Walk the Moon, and A$AP Rocky.
ACL day one featuring Nate Reuss, Leon Bridges, Run the Jewels, Gary Clark Jr., and Tame Impala.
On October 1, members of The University of Texas community gathered on the West Mall to protest campus carry legislation. Proponents of gun rights also assembled to voice their views.
The Daily Texan's coverage of RoundUp Weekend 2015.


Puri: Only authorised servitors would to be allowed to climb atop Snana Mandap and perform rituals at the Snana Yatra of Lord Jagannath and His siblings in Puri. This was decided at the second co-ordination meeting for Rath Yatra .
SP Sarthak Sadangi said there will be restrictions on servitors climbing the Snana mandap during Snana Purnima and only a list of selected servitors will be allowed. Similarly, on the chariots too, only the people whose names are included in a list released by the Temple Administration will be allowed to climb during Rath Yatra.