LEAVE A REPLY Cancel replyLog in to leave a comment Sajadi appears in the film alongside Jabbari, the latter of whom plays the drama’s title character, an upper-class teen in Tehran whose relationship with her parents takes a severe turn after questions arise about her relationship with a local boy. The film, a co-production between Iran, Canada and Qatar, made its world premiere at TIFF on Friday night, and will continue to screen this Sunday and next Sunday for the public.“I was surprised to have this news and of course, so sad,” Foroughi told The Globe and Mail over email. “But now I am so much looking forward to our premiere here in the country where I live and love. What is important for me is all the supports and kindness Ava and I have received so far from the festival, especially from [TIFF programmers] Magali Simard and Steve Gravestock.”“The girls are so happy that we all care about them here,” she added. “Altogether, we are looking forward to our audience’s feedback.”Last week, Foroughi was announced as one of the 15 nominees for the 2017 Directors Guild of Canada Discovery Award. This year’s award winner will be announced at the annual DGC gala on Oct. 28.In 2014, Foroughi was at the centre of a dispute with Canadian customs officers, who seized an art installation that was shipped from Iran to Montreal. She eventually received a permit from Foreign Affairs to release her work, which was part of a federally subsidized art project. Advertisement Facebook As the new Iranian film Ava enjoys its debut at the TIFF this weekend, it will have to do so without the presence of its two stars.According to reports, the Canadian government denied travel visas to Iranian performers Shayesteh Sajadi, 18, and Mahour Jabbari, 17. Ava‘s director Sadaf Foroughi, an Iranian-born Canadian citizen, said her two young actors were denied entry after applying for a travel visa through Canada’s embassy in Turkey.According to a letter received by Sajadi and excerpted in The Hollywood Reporter, the government was not satisfied “that you would leave Canada at the end of your stay as a temporary resident.” A Globe and Mail request for comment from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has not been returned. Twitter
Advertisement Advertisement Login/Register With: Director Sadaf Foroughi attends the Toronto International Film Festival announcement of their Canadian features for this year’s program in Toronto, Wednesday August 9 , 2017. – CHRIS YOUNG/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach Simon Katich became the latest to join the bandwagon of coaches and players, who feel that standard of umpiring in the current season has left a lot to be desired. Though Katich was not forthcoming, he pointed out the contentious decision which went in favour of Delhi Capitals’ Shikhar Dhawan in Friday’s match against KKR. The southpaw, who survived a review on 11, went on to seal the match for the Capitals with an unbeaten 97. Also Read – Puducherry on top after 8-wkt win over Chandigarh”I don’t want to get into trouble. I will give a stock standard answer: It’s a tough job. Obviously last night, there was a contentious one (Dhawan) and unfortunately it didn’t go away,” Katich in a roundabout manner said what he intended to. The ongoing edition of the IPL has had quite a few umpiring controversies so far leading to top players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli coming down heavily on the standard of umpiring. While Dhoni’s latest conduct has not been above board, Katich was all praise for his leadership skills and ability to take the game deep. Also Read – Vijender’s next fight on Nov 22, opponent to be announced later”It will be interesting to see what the master in Dhoni goes with tomorrow. He seems to pull the right strings at the right time. He is so well prepared. There’s a lot of thought put into the team. He’s very clever in the way he uses his bowlers, his field positions,” said Dhoni. “We got completely outplayed in Chennai. But we feel our team suits our wicket as well with the quality spinners we’ve got. Unfortunately, we didn’t adapt to the conditions in Chennai. We thought it was a 180-wicket and it took us probably four overs to realise that and the game was done and dusted.”
Underlining the “profound humanity and integrity” of Mr. Nyerere, who passed away in October 1999, the Secretary-General said, “Let us pay tribute to Mwalimu by showing the same level of commitment as he did to justice, lasting peace, development and the betterment of people’s lives all over the world.”The Secretary-General said that much remained to be done to ensure that all the world’s people were free from fear and want. In Africa, in particular, he emphasized, “poverty, ignorance, disease, conflicts and wars continue to affect many millions of people.” “Today, corporate social responsibility is a major international issue; the need to preserve the environment for future generations is universally acknowledged; the debt issue is high on the global agenda,” Mr. Annan said, noting that in all those developments, Mr. Nyerere, “speaking clearly and eloquently for the weak in the world of the strong” had played a key role. Mr. Nyerere served as Tanzania’s first President following its independence from Britain in 1961. After voluntarily stepping down from the presidency in 1985, he played a lead role in numerous initiatives to promote peace on the African continent, including as mediator for the Burundi peace process.
In a press release issued earlier today, UNICEF noted that since September, thousands of people in war-torn Donetsk had been spending most of their days and nights in at least 12 bomb shelters with little or no access to water, hygiene, sanitation or food. Among them, the UN agency added, were an estimated 1,000 children who regularly sought refuge from the heavy shelling. “The most vulnerable are those who are forced to seek refuge in unsanitary, crowded and freezing cellars and bomb shelters, children living on the streets, and those who come from poor families or whose homes have been severely damaged,” UNICEF Representative in Ukraine, Giovanna Barberis, explained. “UNICEF reminds all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to keep children out of harm’s way,” Ms. Barberis continued. “We also urge the international community to act now to provide the thousands of children affected with the basic assistance they need.” In late February 2014, the situation in Ukraine transcended what was initially seen as an internal Ukrainian political crisis into violent clashes in parts of the country, later reaching full- scale conflict in the east. A cease-fire and peace plan for eastern Ukraine was signed in the Belarussian capital of Minsk on 5 September, but remains fragile. The situation has since continuously deteriorated, with serious consequences for the country’s unity, territorial integrity and stability. Ms. Barberis reiterated her concern for the safety of Ukraine’s children – including the 1.7 million affected by the conflict – in a separate phone conversation with UNICEF spokesperson, Christophe Boulierac, during a press conference in Geneva. She noted that the recent shelling in Mariupol, which claimed the lives of two children and injured another seven, had further underlined the urgent need for an end to the violence and the provision of a scaled up humanitarian response. In addition, she said, Ukraine’s children were increasingly vulnerable to psychological damage as well as infection from various diseases due to the lack of hygiene and vaccines. Answering a question from a reporter, she admitted that barely 50 per cent of the 7.9 million Ukrainian children had been properly vaccinated against polio, rendering them susceptible to contagion. Also speaking from Geneva, Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), revealed the latest casualty figures gleaned from UN data. As of 26 January, he said, a total of at least 5,187 people had been killed in the continuing conflict and 11,550 had been wounded.
· Positive trend for big buses held through to Q4 2008 led by double-deckers · Large coaches saw a big fall in 2008, but total still above 2000-2005 average · Significant structural and spending shifts in bus and coach demand since 2003 “December’s data registrations raised a note of caution over the recent strong growth in double-deck bus registrations”, said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. “The trend held for most of the year and growth hit 122% after demand had reached an atypically low level in 2007. Big bus demand will be hit by the abrupt recession but may prove more resilient than coach demand has been. Given stable funding and passenger numbers, the growing use of buses in urban and remote rural areas should support the market”.DownloadClick to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Amadou Sow and Ar’Mond Davis had 14 points apiece to lead UC Santa Barbara to its fifth straight win, knocking Sacramento State from the unbeaten ranks 75-58 on Thursday night.UC Santa Barbara (6-1) is off to its best start since the 2007-08 season when the Gauchos kicked of the year with a 5-1 mark. UCSB will play at Washington on Sunday.JaQuori McLaughlin added 13 points with six rebounds. Robinson Idehen chipped in 10 points.Sacramento State took an early lead and led until Sow hit a jumper and McLaughlin nailed a 3-pointer for a 16-13 advantage. Idehen dunked and followed with a layup for a 21-16 lead with 6:28 left in the first half. The Gauchos were up 32-27 at the break.Devearl Ramsey opened the second half with a trey and Sow added four more quick points for a 39-29 lead. The Gauchos pushed that to 59-40 with 8:06 remaining.Joshua Patton had 15 points for Sacramento State (3-1), which played its first game away from home. Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa added 11 points.The Associated Press
OSU then-junior defenseman Cara Zubko (2) passes the puck during a game against Minnesota on Nov. 15 at the OSU Ice Rink. OSU lost, 5-3. Credit: Ed Momot / For The LanternAfter dropping both games against the Wisconsin Badgers last weekend, the Ohio State women’s ice hockey team opens its home schedule on Friday against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, winners of last season’s NCAA tournament.The Buckeyes lost both games against Wisconsin by a combined score of 15-0, but spent the following week in practice trying not to dwell on the past.“I think what’s key is to not look back on what’s happened, but to look forward,” senior forward Julia McKinnon said. “Obviously, every team says that at the beginning of the year, but I think we need to focus on D-zone for us most importantly, blocking the shots, looking to get man-on-man.”The difficulty for OSU as it welcomes Minnesota and its high-powered offense is continuing to balance preparing for opponents with the developmental aspects of hockey.“Yes, I can implement systems where the score might have been a little bit closer, but I want our team to get better at being hockey players and knowing what our weaknesses are and what our strengths are,“ OSU coach Jenny Potter said.Eight Golden Gophers are ranked in the top 30 scorers in the country, and Potter spent much of this week preparing her squad for another up-tempo competitor.“We’ve been playing to high speeds in practice, not just stepping in and expecting to be skating that fast, knowing that that team’s coming in,” senior defender Cara Zubko said.Zubko said she believes that at this stage of the season, it was good for both OSU’s newcomers and veterans to receive the lessons that come with back-to-back blowouts on the road.“I think no one goes into the first weekend of the year expecting losses like that. But I think it was a wake-up call in a good sense that, just because we know we have lots of work to do,” Zubko said.Zubko was not the only member of the program looking to take positives away from its series against Wisconsin, and the team is eager to get right back on the ice tonight against another tough conference opponent.“I think it’s a lesson in life as far as how much work you put in, or lack thereof,” Potter said. “For us as a group, seeing where we are and where we want to go, with Wisconsin being a great team, Frozen Four team last year, ranked No. 2 right now, this team wants to be in those positions, so it’s a stepping stone.”Against Minnesota, OSU will look to compete with one of the best, if not the best, program in the nation. The Golden Gophers set an NCAA record with eight goals in a single period en route to an 11-0 victory over St. Cloud State last Saturday, and are led by freshman forward Sarah Potomak, who ranks fourth in the nation in scoring.But for a glass-half-full team like the Buckeyes, the opportunity to erase memories of last week’s sweep by facing off against another elite team is one not to pass up.“We know we have lots of work to do,” Zubko said. “We can’t look back on that, there’s a lot of hockey and a big season in front of us and we’ll be ready for this weekend.”The Buckeyes drop the puck in Game 1 against Minnesota at 6:07 p.m. on Friday and at 2:07 p.m. on Saturday in Game 2.
Remember the video of Ohio State men’s basketball players Aaron Craft, Jon Diebler and Jared Sullinger singing Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A?” Do you wish you could see those three sing the song live? If the OSU men’s basketball team had a midnight madness, that performance could happen. Started by Charles “Lefty” Driesell at the University of Maryland, midnight madness is currently a major part of the college basketball world, and it took place last Friday night. Driesell came up with the idea in 1971 to have his Terrapins’ first practice of the season at the earliest possible time that the NCAA would allow: midnight. Schools across the country have since adopted that idea, with the midnight practice now transforming into more of a preseason party hosted by the basketball team than work on the court. Students, alumni and fans gather at a teams’ arena to see their program introduce that year’s team. Different schools do different things, but the event usually involves the team performing a song or dance, the head coach giving a speech, and an intrasquad scrimmage. This year, Connecticut had a dunk contest, Syracuse got Carmelo Anthony to show up and interact with the crowd, and Maryland had an alumni scrimmage featuring some of their current and former NBA players. Nonathlete celebrities show up for the madness as well. Rapper Wale performed at Georgetown’s event last season, and 50 Cent appeared at Villanova’s five years ago. Basically, all the big-time programs have some form of a season tip-off event highlighted by entertaining performances and all-star game-type defense scrimmages. Except for the Buckeyes. It’s not as if OSU doesn’t have a big enough basketball program to host such an event. Two 30-win seasons and a national title game appearance in the last five years, along with an anticipated top-five team this year puts the Buckeyes among the nation’s top teams. Why not celebrate something that OSU does well? With the current state of the football program, the men’s basketball team should be the pride of the athletic department. Hosting an event that takes attention away from the football team and focusing it onto a basketball program that has done nothing but win and represent the school well in recent years needs to happen. The possibilities for the event are endless. A scrimmage between players, both former and current, would certainly entertain. Who wouldn’t want to see Sullinger posting up Greg Oden or William Buford trying to shake Evan Turner? Ohio natives Kid Cudi, Bow Wow, or Chip tha Ripper could perform. If those three aren’t available, I’m sure the crowd wouldn’t mind being serenaded by the voices of Craft and Sullinger. Who knows, maybe known Buckeye fan Lebron James would show up. Either way, OSU is missing out on a big part of the college basketball world, and it’s time for change.
The small tortoiseshell saw a 47 per cent drop in numbers while peacock butterflies slumped to their second worst year on record, with a drop of 42 per cent on 2015 numbers. Sightings of comma butterflies fell 46 per cent while gatekeeper populations were down 40 per cent and small coppers dropped 30 per cent compared to 2015.Sir David, who is president of the charity, said: “Worryingly, we are now seeing the fortunes of some of our once common butterflies mirror those of our rarest species and they too are now also suffering significant declines with butterflies declining more rapidly in urban areas than in the countryside.“In the last decade our butterflies have experienced several poor years and although resilient, they simply cannot sustain repeated losses, especially if the habitats they need in order to rebuild their populations are also under threat.” Sir David Attenborough is encouraging members of the public to count butterflies over the next three weeksCredit:Helen Atkinson A large white butterfly Credit:Butterfly Conservation 
Sir David Attenborough has urged Britons to take time to count butterflies this month over fears that even common British species are dying out.Today marks the annual launch of the Big Butterfly Count, which encourages the public to look for 18 common species such as the Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper which are struggling.More than three-quarters of the UK’s butterflies have declined in the last 40 years, according to the charity Butterfly Conservation, and last year saw some saw the worst falls for butterfly numbers since the Big Butterfly Count began in 2010. This year’s count follows new findings that butterflies are declining more rapidly in urban areas than in the countryside.Richard Fox, Butterfly Conservation Head of Recording said: “With increasing numbers of our common and widespread butterflies in long-term decline, Big Butterfly Count is more important than ever. Simply taking 15 minutes out of your normal day to enjoy the sunshine and count butterflies can help us monitor their populations. It’s a win-win for wildlife.” Sir David added: “Taking part in the Big Butterfly Count is good for butterflies and it is also good for us all. The Count is good for butterflies because your sightings will tell us which species need help and in which areas we need to help them.“But the Big Butterfly Count is also good for you because 15 minutes spent watching butterflies in the summer sunshine is priceless; spending time with butterflies lifts the spirits and reinvigorates that sense of wonder in the natural world.”The Count runs from 14 July to 6 August. Taking part in the Count is easy – find a sunny spot and spend 15 minutes counting the butterflies you see and then submit sightings online at www.bigbutterflycount.org or via the free Big Butterfly Count app. 
A Red AdmiralCredit:Butterfly Conservation Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings.
Finland’s largest trade fair event for mining technology EuroMining will be held May 20-21, 2015 at the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre. The organisers state that the international event “will assemble all major mining industry actors under one roof.” At this point, exhibitors are coming from nine countries besides Finland. Professionals from the mining and quarrying, geology, enriching and process industry as well as metallurgy fields will all be present. This is the second time the trade fair has been organised “creating a forum for actors in the field to establish international contacts, present new products and to discuss future solutions.” The Environmental Contribution of 2015 award will also be presented on the opening day. Tampere Trade Fairs Ltd is organising this event for the second time in co-operation with the Finnish Association of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and Green Mining programme of Tekes.“Finland’s mining industry is part of an international field, which will show strongly during the EuroMining 2015 trade fair in May. Our mining industry operates under the same principles as in any other part of the world, so discussion of the field’s challenges and possibilities must be discussed both from a global and Finnish perspective. Metal prices and general willingness or unwillingness to invest are reflected in Finland just like any other place. Finland’s lengthy permit practices and diverse appeal options have their own twists, either hindering or completely eliminating the making of investment decisions. On the other hand, a good level of basic knowledge and competence together with excellent ore potential form a permanent lure for mining companies. Solid infrastructure also plays a key role”, says retired Director General Elias Ekdahl of the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK).“The market situation of the mining industry is challenging this year, but maintaining customer relationships and future customer contacts still require constant presence. Even if new mine projects have been put on hold, the already discovered deposits have not disappeared. Before or later, once the market situation improves their exploitation will continue full on. This also shows in the fact that the share of foreign exhibitors at the EuroMining trade fair is increasing. 20% of direct exhibitors are currently foreign. In addition to Finland, actors in the field are coming from Australia, South Africa, Great Britain, Austria, Canada, China, Sweden, Germany and Turkey”, says Project Manager Mikael Wänskä of Tampere Trade Fairs Ltd.
THIRTY HEALTH AND disability organisations are to have their funding restored for the next year period as their positions are reviewed, Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government Alan Kelly has announced.These groups had previously received funding through a support scheme but their applications were not among the 155 approved this year. This left many of them facing closure.In a statement today, Kelly’s department said it was making available bridging finance totalling just under €1.3 million for a twelve month period “to avoid a sudden and adverse impact on these organisations”. The funding for each organisation will be restored based on their allocation so far this year.Some of the organisations include the Irish Heart Foundation, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, The Carers Association and the Dyslexia Association of Ireland.Kelly said that it is now essential that this time is used to find a more long-term solution to funding problems in these organisations.He also said that, in conjuction with the Department of Health, a review of public funding for national organisations in these sectors will take place to ensure the money is used efficiently.Read: Irish funded operation saves the lives of 20 children in Ukraine>Read: Here’s how these furry friends are changing the lives of autistic children in Ireland>
Beat ’em up games aren’t as prolific as they used to be back in the day so it’s always fun when a new one is released. It’s even better when this beat ’em up is based on a franchise that is perfect for the genre. No doubt being released to drum up attention for the upcoming movie, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle looks like it will deliver a ton of great side scrolling action for fans of beat ’em ups and the TV series.Each of the levels, along with the dialogue, cutscenes, and enemies are all pulled from the first two seasons of the series. Because this is a modern beat ’em up, players will be able to level up their characters and unlock new attacks and weapons. Combos can be pulled off by combining light, heavy, and projectile attacks. Players will also be able to unlock characters like the Green/White Ranger and human characters Aisha, Rocky, Adam, and Kat (all of whom eventually become Power Rangers on the show).Like I said above, it is rare when we get any new beat ’em up games so Mega Battle is definitely welcome. It admittedly looks like a cheesy flash game, but if it controls well and is fun, then we can forgive its appearance, especially since it has four-player co-op.Just looking at the trailer conjures memories of playing these type of games with friends, so if this is even half as fun as Turtles in Time, Final Fight, Streets of Rage, and Double Dragon then we should be in for a treat when this game is released on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in January 2017.In less joyous Power Rangers-related news, Ricardo Medina Jr., who played the Red Ranger in Power Rangers: Wild Force, was recently arrested for murdering his roommate with a sword. He has pleaded non-guilty, but if convicted he faces a possible life sentence with no chance of parole for 26 years, meaning he won’t be playing this game. <>
Jason Namako RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Now Playing Up Next The 11/26 “Thanksgiving” edition of WWE Smackdown on Syfy drew 1.65 million viewers, a big drop from the 2.23 million viewers the show drew last week.Smackdown last year at this time (11/28/2014 episode airing on Friday night) drew 3.05 million viewers.Source: TVbythenumbers.comRecommended videosPowered by AnyClipBully Ray Calls Out Ring Of Honor Fan On TwitterVideo Player is loading.Play VideoPauseUnmuteDuration 0:30/Current Time 0:04Loaded: 100.00%0:05Remaining Time -0:26 FullscreenUp NextThis is a modal window.Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaqueFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyProportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsReset restore all settings to the default valuesDoneClose Modal DialogEnd of dialog window.Replay the list Pinterest Ronda Rousey On WWE: I Love This Job, But I Dont Need It Match announced for next week’s 205 Live, 8-Man Elimination from TLC PPV in 2015 Videos Articles Now Playing Up Next CMLL World Lightweight Champion Dragón Lee to debut at MLW December events Bully Ray Calls Out Ring Of Honor Fan On Twitter Velvet Sky Ronda Rousey Highlighting WWEs Problems
Now Playing Up Next WhatsApp Now Playing Up Next Roman Reigns is in Remission Google+ Twitter Facebook Now Playing Up Next Impact Tag Team Champions to debut at EVOLVE Wrestling December events Seth Rollins Defends WWE On Two Separate Occasions
Leigh Sales and Lisa Wilkinson deserve gold Logies. Hailee Steinfeld Trade hopes lift Wall Street WhatsApp Twitter SPOILERS: 9/1 NXT UK TakeOver Cardiff Fallout TV Tapings to air on WWE Network Now Playing Up Next Now Playing Up Next How Carcinogens Got Into the Generic U.S. Drug Supply Oprah Winfrey Google+ The Binge: Googleboxer Isabelle shares what TV shows she hates Videos Articles Pinterest
SPOILERS: 9/5 Impact TV Tapings from Las Vegas to air on Pursuit and Twitch Now Playing Up Next Adam Martin RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR HBO to pilot Game of Thrones Targaryen prequel Facebook The following was taped on Monday night in North Charleston, South Carolina.Krishan Kalyan passed along this live report.12/7 WWE Superstars tapings:* Fandango def. Adam Rose.* Bo Dallas def. Darren Young.Recommended videosPowered by AnyClipTrade hopes lift Wall StreetVideo Player is loading.Play VideoPauseUnmuteDuration 1:09/Current Time 0:02Loaded: 100.00%0:03Remaining Time -1:07 FullscreenUp NextThis is a modal window.Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaqueFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyProportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsReset restore all settings to the default valuesDoneClose Modal DialogEnd of dialog window.Replay the list Jason Momoa Videos Articles Now Playing Up Next Now Playing Up Next Videos Articles SPOILERS: 8/15 Impact TV tapings in Mexico City to air on Pursuit and Twitch
Following speculation from many agriculture groups on multiple amendments yesterday and today, Republican leadership in the House of Representatives announced that it would delay—initially until next week and now indefinitely—any action on the Agriculture Appropriations Bill (H.R. 4800).The news comes just days after the surprise primary defeat of House Majority leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, and many Republican sources say that House Leadership has postponed consideration of any legislation as it charts its path forward. This delays consideration of the Agriculture Appropriations Bill until the week of June 23 at the very earliest.The House’s delay also puts on hold the Senate’s action on the bill until further notice. There is a possibility that in the coming week the Senate could consider the agriculture appropriations bill as part of a minibus spending bill with several other pieces of legislation.With specific regard to amendments to the bill, ASA has from the beginning opposed any and all amendments that would reopen aspects of the Agricultural Act of 2014. Of the amendments filed to H.R. 4800, the following are expressly opposed by ASA:Amendment 3 to reduce funding for multiple programs including the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Fund and the Commodity Credit Corporation Fund by 1 percent (Rep. Blackburn, R-Tenn.)Amendment 4 that would prohibit certain commodities from receiving payments under Title 1 programs (Rep. Blumenauer, D-Ore.)An unnumbered amendment to reduce funding for the Market Access Program (Rep. Chabot, R-Ohio)An unnumbered amendment to place an AGI limit of $250,000 on recipients of crop insurance subsidies (Rep. DeLauro, D-Conn.)An unnumbered amendment that would strip funding to protect the confidentiality of identifying information for farmers who receive crop insurance subsidies (Rep. Kind, D-Wis.)Although it is unclear when or if the appropriations bill will come back to the floor, ASA encourages its members to contact their members of Congress and reiterate that soybean growers are absolutely opposed to these and any other amendments that would reopen any portion of the farm bill.ASA will keep members updated as the appropriations process moves forward.
Two local fire and rescue agencies are hosting classes to help residents prepare to respond to disasters in their neighborhoods.Clark County Fire District 6 and Vancouver Fire have Community Emergency Response Team classes that are starting soon.CERT members are trained to check on neighborhood safety, suppress a small fire with a fire extinguisher, conduct light urban search and rescue, provide emergency medical aid and assist first responders after large events such as earthquake or floods, according to the Fire District 6 website.Fire District 6 class starts Thursday night and will run every Thursday through Oct. 20 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. and two Saturdays, Oct. 1 and Oct. 22.Vancouver Fire classes Start on Oct. 1 and run every Saturday through Oct. 22.Classes cost $30. Space is limited.Call Cindy at 360-992-6285 for more information.
Buildings are reflected on the glass windows of the NSE (National Stock Exchange) building in Mumbai, India, December 27, 2016.Reuters fileIndian markets were back on a selling spree on Friday as bank stocks declined after more lenders disclosed their exposure in the Punjab National Bank’s $1.8 billion fraud case.The Sensex ended down 286.71 points, or 0.84 per cent, at 34010.76 and the Nifty ended down 93.20 points, or 0.88 per cent, at 10452.30.The Indian rupee also weakened against the U.S. dollar after nation’s trade deficit widened to 56-month high due to higher oil and gold imports.The partially convertible rupee closed at 64.22 on Friday, down 0.35 percent from its previous close of 63.91.Here’s what to watch in the coming days.PNB probe widens, others lenders in the netThe Securities and Exchange Board of India has started investigating into trading and disclosure related issues in the matter of Punjab National Bank and Gitanjali Gems with regards to $1.8 billion fraud case.SBI has said it has an exposure of $212 million in respect to letter of undertaking issued by Punjab National Bank to Nirav Modi and other top lenders are also in the fray.Indian-born diamond jewellery designer Nirav Modi is the founder of the $2.3 billion Firestar Diamond and was ranked #57 in the Forbes list of India’s billionaires in 2017.Walmart looking to buy Flipkart: ReportWalmart Inc is in talks to purchase a stake of more than 40 percent in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart, a direct challenge to Amazon.com Inc in Asia’s third-largest economy, Reuters reported on Friday citing two sources familiar with the matter.In what would be one of its biggest overseas deals, the U.S. retailer is looking at buying new and existing shares in Flipkart and due diligence is likely to begin as early as next week, the report said.Federal Reserve minutes of the meetingNext week, the U.S. Fed releases the minutes from its January meeting at which the central bank opted to leave interest rates unchanged but upgraded its inflation outlook.So far U.S. economic data has shown a sharp uptick in wages and a strong consumer price inflation figures, raising speculation that the central bank may raise interest sooner than expected.
If you’re looking for a new game to play this weekend, Rovio’s new Tiny Thief is a great step away from their popular Angry Birds franchise.For most people, Rovio and Angry Birds are synonymous. It’s the game that made them popular, and the company is fully aware of it. Right down to their CEO Peter Vesterbacka being known as the “Mighty Eagle” in reference to the game that made them famous. Now the company has launched Rovio Stars, a division of the company that focuses on games with a similar level and scoring system to Angry Birds but are in fact wildly different games in their own ways.One of these new titles is Tiny Thief, a tap happy puzzle game reminiscent of the point and click games of old.Tiny Thief is a 2D world where you play the role of a small child stuck in a world filled with corruption and wrong doings. You spend the first few levels stealing from various evil doers to help random strangers your encounter. As you move through the levels to accomplish the primary goal, you are offered a series of secondary things to find and steal. On top of this, you must locate a ferret that you rescue early on in the game. Each of these objectives grants you a star, with a total of three stars to be earned in each level.The puzzles grow more complicated as you go, forcing you to think about a series of events in order to move guards and bad guys around the levels so you can walk around undetected. If you are ever seen by anyone in the game, the level ends and you have to start over from the last objective point. The puzzles will keep you playing, and the pace of the game is slow enough that you can pick it up and put it down at will.For $2.99 on Android and iOS, Tiny Thief is a ton of fun and a great sign that Rovio can make more than just Angry Birds.
Long before Electronic Arts got its hands on the SimCity franchise, there was the inaccurately named SimCity 2000. This iconic title debuted on MacOS in 1994, and continued being quite popular all the way through the actual year 2000 on PC, DOS, and a variety of game consoles. Now you can grab this piece of gaming history on PC for free. EA is graciously giving SimCity 2000: Special Edition away. They say there’s no catch, but there is: you have to use EA’s Origin platform to play it.SimCity 2000 was the followup to the original SimCity, which was released all the way back in 1989. Developer Maxis essentially owned the city-building sim genre with SimCity 2000. It introduced a huge number of building types, utilities, transportation, and financial and budgetary mechanics. For some of us, the municipal loans in SimCity 2000 were our first taste of the evils of compound interest.The original release of SimCity 2000 included a number of pre-built scenario cities, but players could also start from scratch. The number of scenarios was increased by the “disasters” expansion. There was also an expansion called Urban Renewal that let you modify the building designs used in the game. These are both bundled with the Special Edition EA is currently giving away.EA usually sells this classic title for $5.99, and it could go back up at any moment. Even if you’re too young to have spent untold hours designing the perfect pixelated city, SimCity 2000 is worth checking out. Once you sign into Origin and click the button, the game is yours forever. It doesn’t make up for the SimCity fiasco of recent years, but at least now you can build giant cities again.
The common human default mode is that we focus our energy on the here-and-now, and care less about ourselves and the events of the farther-off future. The creative mind may tell us still more about how we connect to our future selves. Read the whole story: Quartz Researchers that include UCLA Anderson’s Hal E. Hershfield have established that prompting individuals to think about their own distant future reduces acts of present-bias. Young adults shown a photographic rendering of their retirement-age self committed to saving more today for retirement. Individuals prompted to think about themselves 20 years on chose to exercise more often. It also prompted participants in one study to make more ethical choices.
This present-bias can get in the way of all sorts of decisions that might improve our lot. The struggle with delayed gratification is what makes it hard to choose saving for retirement over spending today, or committing to a diet or exercise plan for our future health at the cost of spending less time on the couch binging Netflix and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. Or, say, supporting public policy aimed at tamping down the march of global warming for the benefit of future generations. An inability to think far into the future has also been shown to influence our empathy and ability to consider the perspective of our enemies.