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LeeStock announce Saturday main support
The Saturday main support for the 2016 LeeStock Music Festival have been announced as top Pop Rock act The Hoosiers.
The festival, which started in 2007 and is now in its 9th year, has so far raised almost £70,000 for the Willow Foundation, a charity who provide special days to seriously ill young adults. The festival is named and run in the memory of Lee Dunford, who was helped by the charity, and is held in the grounds of a National Trust Tudor Hall in Suffolk, Melford Hall.
Previous headliners at the festival, which is held at the end of May, have included Scouting For Girls, Toploader, the Lightning Seeds and Wheatus. This year's headliners, previously announced as The Feeling, are now joined by The Hoosiers who found success in 2007 when their debut album "The Trick of Life" reached number 1 in the charts and sold 2 x Platinum. The album featured 3 top 40 singles, "Worried About Ray", "Goodbye Mr A" and "Cops and Robbers" and was followed up by the hit album "The Illusion of Safety" which reached number 10 in the album chart.
The festival, held on 28th and 29th May features a beer festival, family area, on-site camping and features the backdrop of a beautiful Tudor Hall. Tickets are available online for £30 for the weekend (plus booking fee) and full information can be found at the festival's website www.leestock.org
Published on 23 February 2016 by Ben Robinson
LeeStock 2016 The Hoosiers
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Q: Find the longest arithmetic progression inside a sequence Suppose I have a sequence of increasing numbers, and I want to find the length of longest arithmetic progression within the sequence. Longest arithmetic progression means an increasing sequence with common difference, such as [2, 4, 6, 8] or [3, 6, 9, 12].
For example,
for [5, 10, 14, 15, 17], [5, 10, 15] is the longest arithmetic progression, with length 3;
for [10, 12, 13, 20, 22, 23, 30], [10, 20, 30] is the longest arithmetic progression with length 3;
for [7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 20, 21], [10, 15, 20] or [7, 10, 13] are the longest arithmetic progressions with length 3.
This site
https://prismoskills.appspot.com/lessons/Dynamic_Programming/Chapter_22_-_Longest_arithmetic_progression.jsp
offers some insight into the problem, i.e. by looping around j and consider
every 3 elements. I intend to use this algorithm in Python, and my code is as follows:
def length_of_AP(L):
n = len(L)
Table = [[0 for _ in range(n)] for _ in range(n)]
length_of_AP = 2

# initialise the last column of the table as all i and (n-1) pairs have lenth 2
for i in range(n):
        Table[i][n-1] =2

# loop around the list and i, k such that L[i] + L[k] = 2 * L[j]
for j in range(n - 2, 0, -1):
        i = j - 1
        k = j + 1
        while i >= 0 and k < n:
                difference = (L[i] + L[k]) - 2 * L[j]
                if difference < 0:
                        k = k + 1
                else:
                        if difference > 0:
                                i = i - 1
                        else:
                                Table[i][j] = Table[j][k] + 1
                                length_of_AP = max(length_of_AP, Table[i][j])
                                k = k + 1
                                i = i - 1
return length_of_AP

This function works fine with [1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9], but it doesn't work for [5, 10, 14, 15, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31], where I am supposed to get 6 but I got 4. I can see the reason being that 25, 26, 27, 28 inside the list may be a distracting factor for my function. How do I change my function so that it gives me the result desired.
Any help may be appreciated.

A: Did you try it?
Here's a quick brute force implementation, for small datasets it should run fast enough:
def gen(seq):
    diff = ((b-a, a) for a, b in it.combinations(sorted(seq), 2))
    for d, n in diff:
        k = []
        while n in seq:
            k.append(n)
            n += d
        yield (d, k)

def arith(seq):
    return max(gen(seq), key=lambda x: len(x[1]))

In [1]: arith([7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 20, 21])
Out[1]: (3, [7, 10, 13])
In [2]: %timeit arith([7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 20, 21])
10000 loops, best of 3: 23.6 µs per loop
In [3]: seq = {random.randrange(1000) for _ in range(100)}
In [4]: arith(seq)
Out[4]: (171, [229, 400, 571, 742, 913])
In [5]: %timeit arith(seq)
100 loops, best of 3: 3.79 ms per loop
In [6]: seq = {random.randrange(1000000) for _ in range(1000)}
In [7]: arith(seq)
Out[7]: (81261, [821349, 902610, 983871])
In [8]: %timeit arith(seq)
1 loop, best of 3: 434 ms per loop

A: Following your link and running second sample, it looks like the code actually find proper LAP

5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30,

but fails to find proper length. I didn't spend too much time analyzing the code but the piece
    // Any 2-letter series is an AP
    // Here we initialize only for the last column of lookup because
    // all i and (n-1) pairs form an AP of size 2
    for (int i=0; i<n; i++)
        lookup[i][n-1] = 2;

looks suspicious to me. It seems that you need to initialize whole lookup table with 2 instead of just last column and if I do so, it starts to get correct length on your sample as well.
So get rid of the "initialise" loop and change your 3rd line to following code:
# initialise whole table with 2 as all (i, j) pairs have length 2
Table = [[2 for _ in range(n)] for _ in range(n)]

Moreover their

Sample Execution:
  Max AP length = 6
  3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17,

Contains this bug as well and actually prints correct sequence only because of sheer luck. If I modify the sortedArr to
int sortedArr[] = new int[] {3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,  112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118};

I get following output

Max AP length = 7
  112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118,

which is obviously wrong as original 8-items long sequence 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, is still there.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Ok, here we go, finally. I have the finished drawing of Braylin and a new one, Jacob.
I've been looking to buy a laptop for nearly a year now, because I've been too scared to actually spend money. (I'm sooo cheap!) I'd look in the stores, look on Dell.com, look on HP.com, look at BestBuy.com, etc., etc. Today, David came home and I was looking at the Dell site, he said "Log on to HP". So...I did and there was a huge 18" laptop for a really good deal. I know it's huge, but I want it for a desktop replacement, and I'm old and half blind, so I DID IT! I bought my very first laptop. It has everything I could want and then some. I think I'll be set for quite awhile.
Now I just have to decide on a cell phone!


We've updated our chinos in a flattering mid-rise full length fit - so much comfier than your favourite jeans. They're made from soft stretch-cotton with classic front and back pockets and belt loops. Zip fastening.
Petro Chino is rated 3.9 out of 5 by 54.
Rated 4 out of 5 by Wren8 from Great fit! Bought on line. Fit really well. Sadly colour not as expected so had to return.
Rated 5 out of 5 by linda99 from summer trousers bought in sale, what a bargin and fit lovely. cant wait to wear them when weather gets better.
Rated 5 out of 5 by DevitoNottm from Perfect for all seasons Purchased for work. Nice material, comfortable to wear. Smart look , can easily dress up and dress down. Nice with boots. Bought in sale so very happy.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Suzy13 from cool and classic Versatile chinos to go with summery clothes but will also take you through autumn or winter wit the right tops.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Newwhitestuffaddict from Best trousers I own! I bought these in navy a month ago and really like the feel, the shape and the fit so I was thrilled to see the khaki ones in the sale. They are a lovely colour, the fabric is soft with a very slight sheen and they look great. They wash well too.
Rated 1 out of 5 by sausgage dog from Strange fit Unwearably tight on calves and I don't think mine are that fat! But loose from hips and waist, had to return. Such a shame as lovely colour and fabric and it's nice to see chinos with a bit of stretch.


text:
import {IOptions} from '@jscpd/core';
import {bold, white} from 'colors/safe';

export function printOptions(options: IOptions): void {
  console.log(bold(white('Options:')));
  console.dir(options);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


SGS, the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company is now an accredited Certification Body for the BRC Agents & Brokers Standard with trained auditors all regions of the world.
Published in 2014, the BRC Agents and Brokers Standard is the final link that will allow all parts of the food chain – from farm gate to consumer – to be certificated against a globally recognised standard.
The importance of agents and brokers in the food chain is often overlooked. They enable small and large businesses to cost-effectively source ingredients and packaging materials in a complex global market. They are unique in that they do not manufacture, store or distribute products themselves but facilitate this through the use of third parties. The end user will therefore have limited knowledge of the movement of the goods they are purchasing, traceability through the chain or even the original source.
Past experience such as the chilli powder contaminated with Sudan I, and more recent issues with horsemeat demonstrate how important it is to have knowledge and control of the entire supply chain.
The BRC Agents and Brokers Standard helps address these issues. It also provides a framework for a Quality Management system strongly focused around hazard and risk assessment of operations, traceability and transparency of the movements of goods.
Effective implementation of the standard will not only confirm commitment to sourcing and supplying safe and legal products, it will also demonstrate due diligence.
The scope of the standard is for agents, brokers, importers and exporters of food, pet food and packaging materials. It is not applicable to consumer products or livestock, and focuses on safety, quality and legality.


the alternate selection. That is an assortment of locations it is possible to buy natural and organic food online pick from.
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The Cobb Chamber named the 2015 Sam Olens Business Community Service Award winners on Monday, Dec 7, at the December First Monday Breakfast Event, sponsored by Cobb Community Foundation and Metro Atlanta Ambulance Service. This year, the award program recognized all 10 businesses nominated as recipients for their contributions to Cobb's non-profit organizations.
Since the inception of this prestigious awards program, Georgia Trend magazine has served as its sponsor. Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Neely Young presented each winner with an award designed by Marietta Trophy.
For more information on the Sam Olens Business Community Service Awards, visit cobbchamber.org/bcsa or contact Ashley Warner at 770-859-2346 or awarner@cobbchamber.org. To learn more about the Cobb Community Foundation, visit cobbfoundation.org.


Highways England (HE) is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the English motorway and trunk road network. Since 2011 they have teamed up with Rijkswaterstaat in the Netherlands in order to develop requirements and procure a new generation of traffic management (centre) systems. Highways England's network is some 4,300 miles long and is made up of motorways and trunk roads. The network is managed through a National Traffic Information Service (NTIS), which supports the National Traffic Operations Centre, and seven regional control centres. Traffic Officers attend an average of 850 incidents a day on the English motorway network. Approximately 25 per cent of all congestion on England's motorways is caused by road incidents. The new Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) will enhance the services provided to HE Traffic Officers, with the aim of cutting congestion by focusing on these incidents, reacting quickly and effectively with appropriate measures, and getting traffic moving around them as quickly as possible.
The English strategic road network is equipped with an extensive array of kit from variable message signs, speed and lane control signals, journey time and CCTV cameras, ramp metering, incident detection and traffic monitoring units, through to equipment like emergency telephones, tunnel systems, meteorological and environmental devices.
This technology is being utilised and delivered as part of the Smart Motorway programme which uses active traffic management (ATM) techniques to increase road capacity via variable speed limits and hard shoulder running at busy times and certain sections are now all-lane running (with no hard shoulder). Smart Motorways are delivering significant benefits including smoother traffic flows, more reliable journey times, fewer road traffic collisions, as well as reductions in noise pollution and harmful vehicle emissions.
One of the key issues to solve is to protect the massive investment made in the existing roadside traffic technology installed throughout England and to ensure its effective integration with the ATMS central system.
Nicander are responsible for the production of software services to route data messages to and from roadside devices and other HE systems. The new CHARM ATMS solution uses an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) that has an intermediate store, the Canonical Data Model in XML. Nicander software will provide the effective translation between this model and the HE's roadside equipment and systems, whilst continuing to use their current message structures (TCP-IP, XML/SOAP Web Services, FTP), to enable existing devices to operate without the need for change. The interfaces are designed such that TCP/IP messages will be sent from the new Instation to a roadside device or another system and received by the Instation from a roadside device or another system.


Windows Store finally reaches the 200,000 app milestone, but are you impressed?
The Windows Store, home to apps and games for Windows RT and Windows 8, has finally reached the 200,000 app milestone. To put things in perspective, the Windows Store passed the 40,000 app milestone back in January of 2013, reached the 100,000 app milestone back in July of 2013, and finally hit the 150,000 app milestone in March of 2014.
In just one year, the Windows Store has gone from 150,000 apps to 200,000 apps, globally. "There are more than 585,000 apps in the Windows and Windows Phone Stores combined. Hundreds more are added every day," a Microsoft spokesperson told WinBeta.
Microsoft has been working very hard over the past two years, by offering developers new app availability settings and simplified certification requirements so apps can be published faster. Sure, 200,000 is an impressive number, but in an attempt to make it easier for app developers to publish apps to the Store, Microsoft has also opened up Pandora's box creating new issues.
Just recently, we reported about Darkest Dungeon, one of the most popular new RPG games available for Windows via Steam, appearing in the Windows Store for $3.99, illegally. How did this app make it through the certification process?
This is just one of many examples of apps that are in the Windows Store. Other paid apps were straight up misleading. These paid apps had official titles such as "Temple Run" but hidden in the app description was a secret message saying "my app will provide you the best way to finish." In other words, consumers would purchase this app thinking it was Temple Run, but in actuality they were being mislead into wasting their money.
In August of last year, Microsoft responded to fed up users who were tired with Microsoft's Windows Store reporting process and Microsoft's lack of response to malicious app reports. The Redmond giant proceeded to remove more than 1500 apps from the Windows Store, deemed to be malicious or scam apps.
"We strive to make the Windows Store a high-quality experience for customers and also accessible to the broadest audience of developers. Based on customer and developer feedback, we recently took actions to help users discover the specific app titles they're searching for and improve the overall Store experience. Those updates provide clear guidance to developers and also improve our ability to identify, audit and remove problematic apps. We recognize that there is more work to do and will continue to re-evaluate our policies to strike a balance between the opportunity for developers and the app quality that our customers expect." — Microsoft Spokesperson, 2014.
With any store, regardless of platform, it is incumbent upon users and app developers alike to be more involved in reporting fake or scam apps. Microsoft cant be the only one, nor is the Windows Store ever going to be free of scam apps. That's like trying to make the world crime-free. Not gonna happen. But you can help clean it up.
"Every app store finds its own balance between app quality and choice, which in turn opens the door to people trying to game the system with misleading titles or descriptions. Our approach has long been to create and enforce strong but transparent policies to govern our certification and store experience. Earlier this year we heard loud and clear that people were finding it more difficult to find the apps they were searching for; often having to sort through lists of apps with confusing or misleading titles. We took the feedback seriously and modified the Windows Store app certification requirements as a first step toward better ensuring that apps are named and described in a way that doesn't misrepresent their purpose." Microsoft, 2014.
However, as of March 2nd, there are 200,000 apps in the Windows Store, globally. This does not account for Windows Phone apps. It has taken one year just to add 50,000 apps and one can argue that this is such a weak number that shows developers are not that interested or it can prove that Microsoft has been actively removing malicious/scam apps, listening to consumers who are sending in reports. And let's not get into the Quality vs Quantity debate — because we can easily go hours discussing whether or not "Cinta UGM 3" is a useful "app" or not.
With the push towards Universal Apps, this number as well as the quality of apps may significantly improve. Universal Apps provide one app code which can be used across all device types, encouraging developers to write good apps for Window because they can reach more users on more devices with the same amount of work. For example, Windows 10 provides the standard platform across IoT, phones, tablets, convertibles, laptops, desktops, all-in-ones, Xbox, large form displays, and HoloLens to run apps fast, efficient, and consistent regardless of input type or screen type. An app developer does not need to sit down, focus on an app for Windows Phone, then start all over for Windows. With Windows 10 and Universal Apps, less work is needed from app developers, making things much more appealing on the development side.
"Our universal app and single store model will make it easier for developers to create apps that span Windows devices while also introducing more ways for people to discover and engage apps across the operating system. People building universal apps today are already on track to support Windows 10," a Microsoft spokesperson told WinBeta.
Head over to the Windows Store and browse the catalog of apps. Are you impressed with what you see? In my opinion, I am much more impressed with the quality of apps in the Windows Phone Store, as opposed to the Windows Store.
We are seeing big name apps make their way to the Windows Phone Store in droves, even before arriving to the Windows Store. I hope the Universal Apps initiative changes things for the better. Regardless, the fact of the matter does not change — the Windows Store has reached the 200,000 app milestone. That's a lot of 'apps' and something Microsoft is most likely proud of. The question is, are you impressed?


text:
Mr. Dave Gottschalk
gottschalkd@faithlhs.org
Earth Science, Upper Level Science, history & mechanics of space flight, technology coordinator, band and choir Director
Mr. Dave Gottschalk has been teaching at Faith Lutheran since 2007. Before that, he taught at Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, TX. Mr. Gottschalk holds a B.A. in Secondary Music Education from from Concordia University - Chicago (2002) and an M.S. in Earth & Space Science Education from George Williams College (2014). Mr. Gottschalk is married to Elizabeth Gottschalk, who teaches 1st grade at Immanuel Lutheran School in Crystal Lake. They have two sons: Henry is 8 years old and loves cars, trains, space, and reading. Everett is 5 years old and enjoys cars, frogs, Indiana Jones, and hunger strikes. Both boys, like their father, love Star Wars! In his free time, Mr. Gottschalk likes to spend time with his family; playing games, reading, gardening and native landscaping, spending time outdoors, and visiting museums and National Parks are all family activities they enjoy. Mr. G. is a member at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Harvard, where he is an elder and runs the virtual organist program.
Mr. Gottschalk's Planbook
Serving Students from Algonquin, Barrington, Cary, Crystal Lake, Elgin, Harvard, Marengo, McHenry, Woodstock, and beyond! Faith Lutheran High School (FLHS) is a private school, grades 9-12, dedicated to providing:
Christ-Centered Education
13-1 Teacher/Student Ratio
Students with the ability to freely live in God's Word
General, AP, and ACT Prep Courses; Accredited
16 IHSA Sports, Clubs, Theater, Choir, and More!
Faith Lutheran High School
174 McHenry Ave. Crystal Lake, IL 60014
info@faithlhs.org
© 2017 by Faith Lutheran High School.
Website Design by Students and Staff

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A 21st century kid is a one who keeps up with the technology – especially the gadgets he uses and handles at such a small age. Now with the recent release of Spy Kids-4D and display of various gadgets used by the young guns, it's tough time for parents to gift their little ones with the gadgets they want. The coolest gadgets in the town have their own pros and cons when it comes to kids. So let us take a quick look at the tech gadgets for your kids.
Cell Phones have meant a lot to the kids in more than one way since years. Be it for games, internet, messaging, social networking or talking to their pals. And this has surely relieved the parents of the kiddos as where and what their kids are upto? Many phone makers have targeted children to be their target segment while designing cell phones and many proved out to be a big success.
Kids are just passionate towards gaming. This is what that drives them through and also never do they get bored of playing games. The Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's X-Box 360, Sony's PS and PSP have created a revolution on how kids play games in the virtual world. These consoles and the games also have made the kids to access online for unlocking more of such levels and versions.
The world is being driven with the power of computers at present and as a matter of fact, it's those little kids whom the parents seek out for information on buying a new laptop or a PC. These days' kids know better about gadgets than their elder ones. And we see every school in the country parting out computer knowledge to their students. With computer becoming a critical device for a kid's education, parents are advised to see that their kids don misuse the power of the internet at such a small age.
The age-old mp3 players and Discman where you could listen to fine music are gone. These days' kids love to use a mp3 player which also supports various features like watch movies, browse online, video chat and also play games. One good example under this category could be the iPod Touch from Apple inc.
And here we are with 4 coolest tech gadgets for kids. It provides them a platform to learn quickly and more efficiently. But it's upto the parents on how much guidelines have been laid before handing over the gadgets. And with a little guidance and responsibility of the parents, these 4 gadgets can get kids busy to the core.


Google has announced several upgrades to it's new Android keyboard. The Gboard now has the ability to do automatic translation. As you type, the new Google Translate integration will translate text in real time as you type it in.
You can also now translate text from one language to another directly from the keyboard using the "Translate" button. This could eliminate the hassle of firing up the separate Translate app and then copying and pasting the text.
This presents all sorts of opportunities for near-instant cross-lingual communication — or just trolling your friend by seamlessly switching to a language neither of you understand. .
In the past you had to type a message, copy it and then translate it in the Google Translate app to get a translation. Google realized this inconvenience to the user experience, and that is why the new Gboard offers a more seamless and instant translation.
You can translate to and from any of Google Translate's usual language options, making a whole new world of multilingual communication open to you. By default, it is set to detect the language you're writing in automatically, but you can still choose one manually if desired. You must still select the language you want to translate to manually, of course, as it can't read minds.


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Israel's War on Islam
America's Rogue Agenda
Cracks in US/Israeli Special Relationship?
Published by Stephen Lendman at October 30, 2014
by Stephen Lendman
Count the ways. Institutionalized racism is official Israeli policy. Arab lives are cheap. They don't matter. They're considered subhumans.
Gaza is the world's largest open-air prison. Lockdown harshness prevails. Militarized occupation remains ongoing. Forty-seven years and counting. Ruthless and then some.
Civil law governs Israelis. Military orders control virtually all aspects of Palestinians' lives. Depriving them of fundamental rights.
Persecuting, brutalizing and terrorizing them. Languishing thousands in Israel's gulag. Politically held lawlessly.
in one of the world's harshest prison systems. Cruel and barbaric by any standard.
Targeting Arabs for not being Jews. For praying to the wrong God. For wanting to live free on their own land in their own country.
For wanting fundamental freedoms everyone deserves. According to core humanitarian and human rights laws.
Ones Israel consistently breaches. Governing extrajudicially.
Waging cold, calculated, premeditated naked aggression at its aggression.
Calling non-combatant men, women, children, infants, the elderly and infirm legitimate targets. Violating international law in the process.
Committing high crimes against peace with impunity. With full US support, encouragement, and billions of dollars in funding.
For its killing machine. Both countries partnering in genocidal crimes of war and against humanity.
They mock core principles they claim to support. They shock the most jaded doing so. Imagine a world without them. Imagine perhaps the difference between life and death.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque (alMasji al-Aqsa) on the Temple Mount is Islam's third holiest site.
In Jerusalem's Old City. Where Palestinians lived for thousands of years. Stolen by Israel. Al-Aqsa now under complete Israeli lockdown. More on this below.
Yehuda Glick is an extremist American-born Israeli rabbi. A radicalized right-wing zealot. An Arab-hating Jew.
Chairman of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation (TMHF). Previous Temple Institute executive director.
RMHF focuses on "strengthening the relationship between Israel and the Temple Mount." Glick believes sacred Islamic ground belongs to Jews.
Israel previously banned him from entering the compound. Fearing incidents he'd likely provoke.
Critics say TMHF leads Jewish Temple Mount tours. Intending provocative Jewish prayers there. Currently prohibited.
At the same time, encouraging Jews to destroy Al-Aqsa. Replacing it with a Jewish temple. Banishing Muslims from Islam's third holiest site.
On Wednesday evening, Glick was shot at a Jerusalem rally. Reportedly in his upper body at close range.
At an event outside the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. Where right-wing Knesset members and likeminded extremists were attending.
Jerusalem police reported a shooter on a motorcycle. Details remain unclear. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said only that a "known right-wing activist" was shot.
Extremist Likud Knesset member Moshe Feiglin favors full Israeli Temple Mount sovereignty. He commented saying:
"The would-be killer turned to (Glick), confirmed in Hebrew with a thick Arab accent that this was indeed Yehuda, and shot several bullets at him from point blank."
"What happened is horrible but very expected. Glick was constantly threatened."
"The fact that he was not assigned protection at all times is a failure. I say this as someone who is the target of constant incitement."
"Weakness and incompetence were behind this attack. This was a relaxed conference, the room was half full. This was not an impassioned event. An Arab came there with the urge to kill."
The incident occurred during heightened tensions. An expected Knesset vote may possibly divide Al-Aqsa between Muslims and Jews.
Perhaps restrict Muslim site worship more than already. Igniting a firestorm if occurs. What regional Muslims consider intolerable. Perhaps most Muslims everywhere.
In 1967, Israel and Jordan agreed on permitting Jewish Western Wall prayer. Not inside Al-Aqsa's compound.
After Glick's shooting, Israel declared Al-Aqsa closed "until further notice." It was the first time since 1967. Abbas called doing so a "declaration of war."
A "dangerous Israeli escalation…on the Palestinian people and its sacred places and on the Arab and Islamic nation."
His spokesman, Abu Rdeina, called it "a brazen challenge and dangerous behavior, and will lead to more tension and instability and create a very dangerous atmosphere."
He urged the international community to "take action immediately in order to stop this aggression."
"(A)gainst the Palestinian people and their holy places and against both the Arab and Islamic nations."
Only Al-Aksa's director, Sheikh Azam al-Kahtib, and security guards were allowed in. Hundreds of students in religious schools were denied access.
"It is unacceptable that the Al-Aqsa Mosque pays a toll for the events in Jerusalem," al-Kahtib said. The mosque is a place for prayer and worship and all Muslims have the right to access it."
On Thursday, Israeli police shot and killed Mutaz Hijazi. A Palestinian police blamed for killing Glick. Citing no corroborating evidence.
Claiming, of course, he was armed, dangerous and "opened fire on the police." Neighborhood residents dismissed police Big Lies.
He was unarmed, they said. Threatening no one. Murdered in cold blood. Case closed. Standard Israeli operating procedure.
Shoot, ready, aim. Palestinian lives don't matter. Victims are blamed for Israeli crimes. Over and over again.
Several area residents said police used live fire against them. When they went outside to see what was happening.
Bloodstains and bullet holes were visible on Hajazi's roof several hours later. According to nearby resident Mohammed Shwayt:
"Police came into the neighborhood. (D)ozens of them. (Hajazi) ran to the roof of the building. (Police) started shooting almost immediately."
Innocence or guilt didn't matter. He never had a chance. He was murdered in cold blood.
Doing so prompted Abu Tor daylong clashes. South of Jerusalem's Old City. Dozens of youths threw stones at police.
They responded brutally as always. With tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. The entire area was affected for hours.
Residents uninvolved with what happened were harmed. A canister ignited a delivery van. Palestinian Red Crescent workers reported no injuries.
Days earlier, a neighboring Silwan district resident drove his car into a crowd of passengers disembarking from the city's light rail service.
Killing two. Injuring seven others. Police shot and killed him. No due process. No questions asked. Case closed.
CIt bears repeating. Typical Israeli justice. For Palestinians, none at all.
Since July, Jerusalem has been a hotbed of anger. Since teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir was burned alive. A revenge attack for killing three West Bank Israeli Jews he had nothing to do with.
On Thursday, Jerusalem Police commander Moshe (Chico) Edri announced Al-Aqsa's reopening on Friday. Restricted to men over 50 and women of all ages.
Large security force detachments remain stationed in Jerusalem. Especially in eastern clash-prone areas.
Protest marches are expected throughout the West Bank after Friday prayers. Tensions remain high.
Jerusalem's Fatah chapter called for a day of rage following Hijazi's murder.
On October 30, the Al Haq Palestinian human rights organization expressed grave concern about Israel's provocative actions.
They'll "lead to further escalation in violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and possibly neighboring countries," said Al Haq.
It "urge(d) the international community to view the recent events in a broader domestic and regional context."
It wants Israel held accountable for international law breaches. It called Al-Aqsa ones regular occurrences since 1967. Past incidents include:
January 1986 Knesset and Jewish extremists conducting two provocative Al-Aqsa visits triggering clashes;
October 1990 Israeli security forces accompanied by extremist settlers clashing with Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa's compound;
September 1996 clashes following Israel's new tunnel entrance near Al Aqsa. Sixty-two deaths and 1,600 injuries followed.
Ariel Sharon's provocative September 2000 Al-Aksa visit, sparking the second Intifada.
According to Al Haq:
"Recent statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding maintaining the status quo and Israel's respect for freedom of worship are not only disingenuous given the aforementioned events, but also fail to acknowledge Israel's more routine breaches of Palestinians' right to freedom of religion, including access to holy sites."
"Both Palestinian Muslims and Christians are routinely denied their rights to freely worship in Jerusalem."
"Infringement of these rights becomes even more severe during times of Jewish holidays."
"More specifically, Palestinian access to Al-Aqsa is regularly hindered by Israel via arbitrary prohibitions based on age and gender."
"Israel also often includes the prohibition of access to Al-Aqsa as a condition for release of individuals, many of whom are arbitrarily arrested and detained."
Israel is a rogue terror state. Brutalizing Palestinians continues daily. Expect no relief ahead. Not any time soon for sure.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.
It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.


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Amit Chavda is an Indian politician from the state Gujarat, India. He belongs to Indian National Congress and also a member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly elected from Anklav assembly constituency.

Political career
Amit Chavda was born in Anklav of Anand district and since early days of his life he was active in political and social activities. He was active in NSUI and later in Indian Youth Congress. In 2004 & 2007 he got elected to Gujarat Assembly from Borsad assembly constituency and later in 2012, 2017 and 2022 he was elected from Anklav assembly constituency.  He was appointed as Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president in 2018. He was one of the youngest president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee. In 2023 he was appointed as Congress legislative party leader of Gujarat.

Positions held

MLA from Borsad Constituency in 2004
MLA from Borsad Constituency in 2007
MLA from Anklav Constituency in 2012
MLA from Anklav Constituency in 2017
Updandak, CLP, Gujarat Legislative Assembly 2012 to 2017.
Dandak, CLP, Gujarat Legislative Assembly 2017.
Appointed member in various committees of Gujarat assembly, like OBC, Estimate, PSUs etc.

Party posts

President, Anand District Youth Congress (1999 to 2004).
Pradesh Delegate, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.
Executive Member, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.
Worked as Co-Ordinator Central Zone with AICC Secretary, Assembly Election-2017.
Currently serving as State President, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee

Social & Cooperative Sectors

Secretary - Roshtriya Kelvani Mandal, Borsad.
It runs various Aashram Shala, Uttar Buniyadi Schools, Girls Schools, Gram Vidhyapith,
Industrial Training Institute and Computer Centres.

Secretary - Rashtriya Vidhyarthi Sahayak Mandal, Borsad.
It provides all study materials and hostels to the students and also runs various educational programs.

President - Jivan Chetna Kelvani Trust, Vadodara.
This trust runs various balwadi, Primary School, Secondary School & Higher Secondary School.

Managing Trustee - Navsarjan Education and Charitable Trust, Vadodara.
The trust is involved in various youth development, environment and health awareness programs.

Chairman, APMC Anklav (3rd Term).
Director, KDCC Bank, Nadiad (3rd Term).
Director, Anand District Co-Operative Sangh (3rd Term).
Director, Anklav,  Kharid Vechan Sangh.
Director, Gujarat State Co-Operative Bank Ltd., Ahmedabad.

Awards
Awarded as Adarsh Yuva Vidhayak by the 61 Bhartiya Chhatra Sansad, Pune.

References

External links

Living people
1977 births
Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Making outbound calls from San Francisco?
To make an international call to San Francisco, CA from Taiwan, please follow the dialing steps shown below.
Because US phone numbers are highly standardized, dialing US phone numbers is easy - and the same international dialing procedure applies whether you are calling San Francisco from Taipei, Kaohsiung, or any other Taiwan location.
When dialing San Francisco from Taiwan, it makes no difference whether you are calling from a Taiwan landline or mobile phone - the dialing procedure is the same (although you should double check with your carrier to confirm that your plan allows international calls and that no special charges apply).
As well, when dialing, it also doesn't matter if you are calling to a San Francisco landline phone or a San Francisco mobile phone - both have the same format and the procedure is the same.
All US phone numbers are 10-digits long and include a 3-digit area code and 7-digit local subscriber number. Increasingly, the same region may have multiple area codes. Local subscriber numbers are unique within an area code. Please check here for more information on San Francisco area codes.
If the San Francisco phone number you have does not contain the full 10-digit phone number, then you'll need to double check to find the correct number.
Click here for more on San Francisco landline vs. mobile phone numbers.
To call a San Francisco landline or mobile phone number from Taiwan, follow this dialing procedure.
If your San Francisco destination phone number starts with a ' 1 ' - e.g., 1 415 454 8180, then this serves as the country code. Don't dial ' 1 ' twice.


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In what could be a major step forward for a new generation of solar cells called "concentrator photovoltaics," University of Michigan researchers have developed a new semiconductor alloy that can capture the near-infrared light located on the leading edge of the visible light spectrum.
Easier to manufacture and at least 25 percent less costly than previous formulations, it's believed to be the world's most cost-effective material that can capture near-infrared light—and is compatible with the gallium arsenide semiconductors often used in concentrator photovoltaics.
Concentrator photovoltaics gather and focus sunlight onto small, high-efficiency solar cells made of gallium arsenide or germanium semiconductors. They're on track to achieve efficiency rates of over 50 percent, while conventional flat-panel silicon solar cells top out in the mid-20s.
"Flat-panel silicon is basically maxed out in terms of efficiency," said Rachel Goldman, U-M professor of materials science and engineering, and physics, whose lab developed the alloy. "The cost of silicon isn't going down and efficiency isn't going up. Concentrator photovoltaics could power the next generation."
But near-infrared light slips through these cells unharnessed. For years, researchers have been working toward an elusive "fourth layer" alloy that could be sandwiched into cells to capture this light. It's a tall order; the alloy must be cost-effective, stable, durable and sensitive to infrared light, with an atomic structure that matches the other three layers in the solar cell.
Getting all those variables right isn't easy, and until now, researchers have been stuck with prohibitively expensive formulas that use five elements or more.
To find a simpler mix, Goldman's team devised a novel approach for keeping tabs on the many variables in the process. They combined on-the-ground measurement methods including X-ray diffraction done at U-M and ion beam analysis done at Los Alamos National Laboratory with custom-built computer modeling.
"'Magic' is not a word we use often as materials scientists," Goldman said. "But that's what it felt like when we finally got it right."
The advance comes on the heels of another innovation from Goldman's lab that simplifies the "doping" process used to tweak the electrical properties of the chemical layers in gallium arsenide semiconductors. During doping, manufacturers apply a mix of chemicals called "designer impurities" to change how semiconductors conduct electricity and give them positive and negative polarity similar to the electrodes of a battery. The doping agents usually used for gallium arsenide semiconductors are silicon on the negative side and beryllium on the positive side.
The beryllium is a problem—it's toxic and it costs about 10 times more than silicon dopants. Beryllium is also sensitive to heat, which limits flexibility during the manufacturing process. But the U-M team discovered that by reducing the amount of arsenic below levels that were previously considered acceptable, they can "flip" the polarity of silicon dopants, enabling them to use the cheaper, safer element for both the positive and negative sides.
"Essentially, this enables us to make these semiconductors with fewer atomic spray cans, and each can is significantly less expensive," Goldman said. "In the manufacturing world, that kind of simplification is very significant. These new alloys and dopants are also more stable, which gives makers more flexibility as the semiconductors move through the manufacturing process."
Likely moves things past a tipping point, once it hits the commercial side of the business.
I'm not sure where the Tipping Point is, but if solar panels could manage to convert 50% of the incoming solar energy to electricity, then they should have local cooling effects. Having a rooftop covered with solar panels might be like having a shade tree over your house, except that these panels produce electricity.
if solar panels could manage to convert 50% of the incoming solar energy to electricity, then they should have local cooling effects.
Depends on what else you would have for a roof instead. A clean white roof would reflect a lot more than 50%, but yes, 50% converted to electricity would make for a cooler roof than a black-tar roof.
@RealScience. Excellent point. I think that most of the light energy reflected by a white roof would go to outer space.
But green trees are not that reflective, yet they can noticeably cool the microclimate. I doubt that trees have 50% efficiency, even on a gross basis.
Yes, white roofs do reflect into space, and do help cool both the building and the local climate.
Reflection is not the only way to reduce the heat.
Green trees can shade the ground at more than 50%, so a person on the ground stay much cooler. Trees do absorb a lot of light, and only store a small fraction of it, so the rest of the energy would normally become heat. But green trees pull a lot of water out of the ground and evaporate it through their leaves. Evaporating water takes a lot of energy, so that cools the leaves without heating the air (eventually that heat is released when the water condenses to rain, but that can be far away).
As for how much water trees evaporate, around here we get roughly the same amount of rain every month of the summer and fall, but the streams have much more water in the fall after the leaves are gone and the trees are no longer evaporating all that water!
Thanks, RealScience. I now understand it much better.
I'm not a scientist, but I enjoy Physorg.
I've just added up all the cost savings and efficiency upgrades reported here over the years. By my calculations solar panels should now be operating at above 200% efficiency and people would pay us to take them off their hands.


A Facebook page that appears to be for Mosiiuk indicated he was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and attended Kiev Polytechnic Institute.
A relative first called police about the man potentially being suicidal, Putney said.
Mosiiuk was shot outside his home, one in a row of small, red-brick bungalows on Justice Avenue, a block from Druid Hills Park.
Police identified the officer who shot Mosiiuk as Officer Brian Walsh. He has been with CMPD since April 17, 2002, and is assigned to the Metro Division, police said.
Neighbors Andrew Bolden and Elton Hamilton said the dead man lived a few doors down and across Justice Avenue from his mother. Hamilton, who said he helped the man find a place to live in the neighborhood several months before, described him as a white male, 5 foot 10, in his mid to late 30s.
Officers had been called to Justice Ave. for a suicide threat, initial investigation shows. Officer and deceased male are both Caucasian.
More than a dozen patrol cars were in the area of the shooting, blocking off streets or directing traffic. Other officers could be seen seen in the front and back yards of the home where the shooting occurred. Dozens of residents from the neighborhood either stood in their yards and watched or made their way to stand near the police lines.
As is standard procedure in any case where someone is shot by police, CMPD's Internal Affairs Bureau will conduct a separate but parallel investigation to determine whether CMPD policies and procedures were followed during the the incident. Per department protocol, Walsh has been placed on administrative leave.
Under a Supreme Court ruling that involved a Charlotte case, police are legally allowed to use deadly force if officers have a reasonable belief that they or others are in imminent risk of death or serious injury.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police at 704-432-8477 or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
This is the ninth CMPD fatal shooting since the start of 2015. In January, a CMPD detective fatally shot a motorist after the man left his vehicle with a handgun, apparently in an act of road rage, police said.
And last September, a CMPD officer fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott in an apartment complex parking lot in University City. That shooting touched off several days of occasionally violent protests. In November, the district attorney exonerated Officer Brentley Vinson in the shooting.
Staff writers LaVendrick Smith and Mark Price contributed.


 An episode of the reality TV series Border Patrol was broadcast on TV One at 7.30pm on 26 July 2010. Border Patrol was a locally produced television programme that followed the daily activities of New Zealand's border security staff, including Customs officials at airports and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) officials at international mail centres.
Bio-security risks are not only found in people's luggage but disguised as gifts through the mail centre. These items threaten our lucrative farming and growing industries.
It kind of feels like a magazine but I can feel lumpy bits in it as well. And straight away I can smell what smells to me like meat, maybe a sweet ham or something like that from Europe.
As you can see here inside the magazine there are chunks of salami and meat. So we've got five Glad-wrapped parcels of salami, could be any sort of meat. This is France, bearing in mind they eat horse and salami is only a dried product or smoked at best so it's not cooked in any way, it doesn't have any sort of cooking processing. And it looks a little bit homemade just by the irregularities so that could be perhaps why they wanted to send it to friends here. What I'm going to do is, because it was concealed in the manner that it was, it looks a little bit suspicious to me and I'm going to pass it on to one of our quarantine inspectors who will get hold of the enforcement unit.
It's not cooked; it's not heat-treated in any way so it could have anything from Anthrax to Foot and Mouth, Mad Cow Disease, goodness knows what the meat is. There's an awful lot of diseases that could be brought in. There are very few countries in the world that you can bring meat products in this form into New Zealand.
 Amelie Auge made a formal complaint to Television New Zealand Ltd, the broadcaster, alleging that the item breached Standard 7.
 The complainant argued that the MAF officer's comments, for example "you know they eat horse over there" and "they have lots of diseases", were "unrelated to the actual case and were very offensive towards French people and culture". She considered the comments "sounded racist", and said that this was particularly so because of their irrelevance to the story.
 Ms Auge argued that the officer "had no idea what type of meat it was ... and made these comments [even though] she was totally ignorant". In the complainant's view, when the officer mentioned diseases, she should have said that "there are diseases in Europe that are not present in New Zealand and this is why we cannot allow meat into the country". Instead, she argued, the officer made it sound as though "all diseases of New Zealand are imported from France and that French people and the country in general [are] disgusting and dirty".
 TVNZ noted that the Authority had consistently defined denigration as blackening the reputation of a class of people. It also stated that, in light of the right to free expression contained in section 14 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, a high threshold had to be crossed before a breach of Standard 7 could be found. It contended that encouraging discrimination meant to encourage the different treatment of members of a particular group, to their detriment.
 TVNZ said that it did not consider the officer's comments were intended to cause offence to French people or culture. Instead, it said, "she was simply doing her job and outlining potential threats to New Zealand borders which uncooked meat, from any country, can pose".
 The broadcaster argued that the officer did not say that "all the diseases of New Zealand are imported from France and that French people and the country in general [are] disgusting and dirty", as contended by the complainant.
 TVNZ concluded that the item had not reached the threshold required to amount to encouraging discrimination or denigration against French people, and it therefore declined to uphold the complaint.
 Dissatisfied with the broadcaster's response, Ms Auge referred her complaint to the Authority under section 8(1B)(b)(i) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.
 The complainant reiterated her view that the item was "highly offensive", and argued that allowing such comments would increase "social tensions and racism" towards French people and culture, particularly because the comments were made out of context.
 Ms Auge contended that the offensiveness of the broadcast was compounded by the officer's behaviour; the officer looked "disgusted" when mentioning horse meat and making comments regarding diseases, she said. In the complainant's view, the officer's tone was completely "inappropriate". She argued that the comments were intended to make the programme more dramatic.
 Ms Auge said that the programme screened during prime family viewing time, and that the broadcaster should therefore be more careful not to "degrade" other cultures or people.
 Standard 7 protects against broadcasts which encourage denigration of, or discrimination against, a section of the community. "Denigration" has consistently been defined by the Authority as blackening the reputation of a class of people (e.g. Mental Health Commission and CanWest RadioWorks1), and "discrimination" as encouraging the different treatment of the members of a particular group to their detriment (e.g. Teoh and TVNZ2).
 The complainant argued that the officer's comments about the French eating horse meat and the possibility of raw meat carrying diseases, discriminated against and denigrated French people and their culture. She considered that the officer made it sound as though "all diseases of New Zealand are imported from France and that French people and the country in general [are] disgusting and dirty".
 TVNZ argued that the officer was "simply explaining her thought processes" as she opened the package and discovered the raw meat, and it considered that her comments were not intended to cause offence.
 In our view, the officer's comment about French people eating horse meat was a legitimate observation communicated in a calm and non-derogatory manner. We agree with TVNZ that it was not intended to cause offence to French people or culture.
 With regard to the officer's comments about the potential for raw meat to carry diseases such as Anthrax and Foot and Mouth, we consider that they were educational and factual statements that provided valuable insight into the potential bio-security risks posed by undeclared raw meat entering the country. They were clearly not aimed at French people, as contended by the complainant.
 For these reasons, we do not consider that the officer's comments encouraged the denigration of, or discrimination against, French people or culture. Accordingly, we decline to uphold the Standard 7 complaint.


The match of FK Kyzylzhar vs Altay in Kazakhstan Cup is started at 2019-3-25 18:59. For this match, the initial Asian Handicap is FK Kyzylzhar0.0,-0.5; The initial Goals Odds is 2.0,2.5. Totally, FK Kyzylzhar and Altay fought for 1 times before. Over Goals occurred for 1 times and Over Corners occurred for 0 times. FK Kyzylzhar got 0 win, 1 draw and 0 lost with 2 Goals For and 2 Goals Against.
For the last 15 matches, FK Kyzylzhar got 5 win, 5 lost and 5 draw with 18 Goals For and 18 Goals Against. The average of Goals For is 1.2 per match and the average of Goals Against is 1.2 per match. The rate of Over Goals is 60%; The rate of Handicap Win is 47%; The rate of win is 33%; The average of corners is 5.5 per match and the rate of Over Corners is 71%.
For the last 15 matches, Altay got 8 win, 4 lost and 3 draw with 23 Goals For and 15 Goals Against. The average of Goals For is 1.5 per match and the average of Goals Against is 1 per match. The rate of Over Goals is 67%; The rate of Handicap Win is 50%; The rate of win is 53%; The average of corners is 5.1 per match and the rate of Over Corners is 46%.
Except the history stats of FK Kyzylzhar vs Altay, ScoreBing also offers predictions and lineups of FK Kyzylzhar vs Altay, that may help you predict or replay the match.


Allen Greenberg, the US Consul General in Kraków, Dorota Dąbrowski, AmCham Executive Director and Roman Rewald, AmCham Chairman met with the presidents and director of AmCham member companies on November 5th, 2009 in Kraków. The goal of the meeting was to update the members on the current and planned activities of AmCham Warsaw office, to listen to members' problems and concerns as well as to encourage them streamline their problem solving and lobbying efforts through AmCham.
Apart from the above, the robust agenda of the event included presentations by: Sławomir Kopeć, the President of the Kraków Technology Park, Prof. Tomasz Szmuc, the Deputy Rector of AGH and Prof. Piotr Tworzewski, the Deputy Rector of the Jagiellonian University who presented prospects for cooperation with universities and invited the participants to get involved in local projects aimed at preparing a unified growth strategy for the years to come.
From left to right: Dorota Dąbrowski, AmCham Executive Director, Roman Rewald, AmCham Chairman, Allen S. Greenberg, the US Consul General in Kraków, Prof. Tomasz Szmuc, the Deputy Rector of AGH.
The meeting was generously sponsored by Ernst and Young.


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THE RESCUE OF JEWS IN KOSOVA
By Saimir Lolja/
The World War II in Europe began with the invasion of Albania by the Italian Army on 7 April 1939. As a result, Albania lost its independence to become officially a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy and existing as an autonomous part of the Italian Colonial Empire. The independence of Albania was de jure reestablished in October 1943. Albania was de facto an occupied country by Italian or German Armies that had unlimited authority on it throughout WWII.
The German, Italian and Hungarian Armies invaded ex-Yugoslavia in the period of 6-17 April 1941 and the German Army invaded mainland Greece in the period of 6-30 April 1941. Then, the German Army controlled the north of Kosova, including the north of Presheva Valley. In addition to most of Macedonia and eastern Greece, the Bulgarian Army controlled a small section of southeast of Kosova and the south of Presheva Valley. Besides Montenegro, inner Albania and two third of Greece, the Italian Army had the largest part of Kosova and western Macedonia.
Within the German sector in northern Kosova was the town of Mitrovica and its mine of Trepça. Without that mine, the Reich III military industry could hardly keep the war machine moving on. The head post of the German Army was in the town of Vushtri, 27 km away from Prishtina, the capital of Kosova which was under Italian control. The German and Italian Armies had an agreement that allowed the German Army to enter the Italian sectors in Kosova anytime and without any permission. The German Army occupied the Italian sectors after the capitulation of the Italian Army on 8 September 1943 and adjacent Bulgarian sectors after the Bulgarian Army changed side and joined the soviet forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on 9 September 1944.
From April 1941 to November 1944, many of the Albanian-inhabited areas that had been previously taken away from Albania and given to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, such as in the central and southern Kosova, western Macedonia, southern and southeastern Montenegro, joined Albania. Only the Southern Albanian province of Çamëria (occupied by Greece in March 1913) did not become yet part of Albania throughout WWII.
Documents from Albanian archives recently published help for an accurate view of what happened in the province of Kosova for the duration of WWII. The Albanian Prefectures in the period of WWII were complementing segments of the overall salvation of Jews from Albanians during the Holocaust and cannot be disjointedly comprehended. For instance, the main channel for Jews pouring into central Albania was that starting from the Prefecture of Prishtina. The Prefectures of wartime Albania had not even a Jew wearing any badge or sign that would distinguish him or her.
The anti-Semitism was well spread in Serbia before WWII and supported by politics, Army officers and Serbian Orthodox Church; it flourished in wartime. On 20 January 1942, a meeting of senior officials of the Reich III took place in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. It has been known since as the Wannsee Conference that specifically made a decision for completing "the final solution to the Jewish question". It assigned the numbers of Jews that should be exterminated in each of the European countries. Within three months and without German interference, the Serbian state and Chetniks completed the task to make Beograd the first "Judenfrei" city in Europe and liquidated almost all Jews in Serbia. Jews who could escape the holocaust in Serbia were bringing with themselves into Kosova the dreadful message of the holocaust conscientiously performed by Serbian state and Nazis.
The resident Jews of Kosova lived in towns and numbered 409 persons (the list exists). The Italian Army gathered resident Jews of Kosova and those caught as escaping the holocaust in ex-Yugoslavia and other countries into its military camp of Prishtina. It is the same spot of today where there is the Faculty of Philology of the University of Prishtina. The Italian Army had gathered more than 3000 Jews in that camp. Jews in Kosova were in a non-stop danger by Nazis and Serbs, and were not free to move in the open. The only survival option was to move deeper into Albania. Albanians did whatever they could and what their governmental authority was allowed to help. Apart from the Albanian officials in the central administration in Tirana who organized the rescue of Jews from the Prefecture of Prishtina in undisclosed cooperation with the highest Italian authority in wartime Albania, the Albanian officials in the Prefecture of Prishtina mentioned in this instance were: Riza Drini, Prefect of Prishtina 1941-1942; Hysen Prishtina, Prefect of Prishtina 1942-1944, Preng Uli, Secretary of Prishtina Town Hall, 1941-1944, and Dr. Spiro Lito.
By fearing that sooner or later the German Army would lethally deal with Jews in the Italian military camp of Prishtina, Halim Sh. Spahija, Arsllan Mustafa Rezniqi, Kol Biba, Hysen Prishtina, Preng Uli, Hasan Rrem Xerxa and Dr. Spiro Lito accomplished a plan. The Prefect of Prishtina, Hysen Prishtina, and Secretary of Prishtina Town Hall, Preng Uli, declared the camp infected by typhus. Then, Halim Sh. Spahia transported almost all "infected" Jews by trucks or busses to Kruma, Kukës, Burrel, Tirana, Durrës, Kavaja, Berat, Vlora, etc. A few Jews did not want to go and those who were still there when German Army reached the camp in September 1943 sealed their own fate.
Halim Sh. Spahia and brothers were businessmen from the town of Gjakova. They used the buildings of their business in Kukës, Kruma, Prizren, Tirana and Durrës to house relocated Jews before they found safe houses in the Albanian towns and villages or safe ways to travel by sea from Durrës to safer countries. Arsllan Mustafa Rezniqi built another house in his court to house Jewish families. His family rescued 42 Jewish families. In 2008, he received the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" from Yad Vashem. Arif Musa Aliçkaj, was an employee of the Town Hall of Deçan. Like Preng Uli, he made and issued false passports or documents for Jews of ex-Yugoslavia by registering them as Bosnian. With such documents, they traveled south to safer locations in Albania. Hasan Rrem Xerxa from Gjakova transported with his car Jews from Shkup to Deçan and deeper to Albania. Other Albanian families who sheltered Jews in Kosova until they ensured their safe journey to inner Albania are the following: the families of Bajram Voca and Sejdi Sylejmani in Mitrovica, the family of Sabit Haxhikurteshi in Prishtina, the families of Ruzhdi Behluli and Riza Çitaku in Gjilan, the families of Hasan Shala Mullashabani and Asim Luzha in Gjakova, and the Belegu family in Peja.
Only through official channels, Jews were sent from the Prefecture of Prishtina to central Albania in groups of dozens and hundreds. Since the transfers were in haste, it is common to find Albanian archival documents written in Italian or Albanian languages with lists of names each associated with the number (only the number) of the family members accompanying that name. Those rescuing transfers have been mentioned in the publications of Harvey Sarner, Martin Gilbert, Ariel Scheib, Gavra Mandil, etc.
Some typical examples from the Central Archive of Albania (CAA) follow. There is an archived dossier (F.152, V. 1942, D. 319) containing a group of 551 Jews relocated from the Prefecture of Prishtina to Berat in 1942. The document has the names of 87 individuals and 94 heads of families "con la famiglia – associated with their own family". In a document of 30 March 1942, the Internal Ministry of Albania ordered the Prefects in the "liberated lands" to reposition all Jews of their districts into "old Albania". On 1 April 1942, the Internal Ministry of Albania ordered the Prefecture of Prizren to send all its Jews to a gathering field for all Kosova and those, together with 69 Jews in the prison of Prishtina, were soon relocated to Kavaja, Burrel, Kruja, and Shijak. On 5 April 1942, a group of 100 Jews arrived in Berat. Some days later, 79 Jews from the town of Peja arrived in Preza, near Tirana; and so on.
Another salvation case is affirmed by the Lieutenant of the Italian King to wartime Albania, Francesco Jacomoni, in his book "La Politica dell'Italia in Albania (The Italian Politics in Albania), Cappelli Ed. 1965", pages 288-289. Francesco Jacomoni asserts the secret cooperation with the Albanian Prime-Minister Mustafa Merlika Kruja and the chief of the Confidential Affairs Department in the Italian Foreign Ministry, Luigi Vidau, for saving Jews in Kosova. In April 1942, two months after the Wannsee Conference, the German Consul General had required from the Albanian Prime Minister the delivery of more than 300 Yugoslavian Jews that had taken refuge in Kosova. Mustafa Merlika Kruja had immediately sent his officials to Kosova for issuing Albanian passports to those Jews and transported them to Gjinokastra in southern Albania by buses [of the company SATA].
Another rescuing example is a list of 256 Jewish families, totaling 860 persons, who temporarily sheltered in Kosova before being relocated to central Albania in the period 1942-1943. This comprehensive list comes as a courtesy of the Friendship Association Kosova-Israel "Dr. Haim Abravanel". There is another list of 55 ex-Yugoslavian Jews that on the pages 101-102 of the book "Jevreji Kosova i Metohije, Beograd, 1988" by P. D. Ivanov had been reported as transported from Prishtina to the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen in 1944. In fact, the documents in the Central Archive of Albania prove that they survived the holocaust by being relocated into central Albania. This information with broad archival references was published for the first time in the book "Jews in Albania: The Presence and Salvation, Naimi, Tirana, 2009; pages 297-301" by Shaban Sinani.
After the capitulation of Italian Army on 8 September 1943, Albania de jure reestablished its independence on 16 October 1943 and declared to be neutral. De facto, the war atrocities, military operations and fighting continued without interruption, though Reich III and its passing Army recognized the independence and neutrality of Albania. As a flash, things looked better and 185 Jews from Prishtina, who were safely residing in Berat went as families back to Prishtina. When they arrived there, they found themselves trapped; some could return with time to Berat while others remained in hiding. Khaim Adizhes (heading the Jewish Community in Prishtina after the war) that time was a small boy who returned to Prishtina with his family. According to his testimony, at a time when German Army was making massive arrests, Serbian neighbors spied on them. As a result, many Jews were arrested and the rest could escape to inner Albania. Those arrested were sent to the camp of Sajmishte near Beograd and later to the concentration camp in Bergen-Belsen. A few of them survived the war and Khaim Adizhes was one of them. The arrests and transportation to Sajmishte camp occurred in May or June 1944. Khaim Adizhes and his family were not in the "Transportenliste" of August 1944 from Prishtina to the camp of Sajmishte.
The conclusion goes by repeating that the salvation of Jews in Kosova was not different from that of inner Albania. They were complementing parts of the overall salvation of Jews from Albanians and cannot be separately understood. Jews were totally rescued by the Albanian governments and population in the entire Albania of WWII. When the German Army entered Kosova in September 1943, almost all Jews of Kosova were already relocated to inner Albania. An acknowledgement comes from the Encyclopedia "Pinkas haKehillot Yavan, Yad Vashem, 1998, p. 413-425" in writing that Germans requested from the Albanian administration in Spring 1944 the list of Jews and permission to act on them. The Albanian administration did not supply the list and also declared that the Jewish community was an internal Albanian affair and gave no permission for acting against Jews. Albanians saved Jews wherever they had jurisdiction on Albanian lands. Çamëria was not part of Albania during WWII and Jews terribly suffered there, though many could reach Albania and survived the holocaust. If Çamëria had been part of Albania, all Jews would have been rescued there. Absolutely.
Filed Under: Histori Tagged With: in Kosova, Saimir Lolja, THE RESCUE OF JEWS


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North Koreans bowing to the statues of Kim Il-sung (left) and Kim Jong-il. Photo by J.A. de Roo, Wikipedia Commons.
A Decade Of North Korea's Nuclear Tests And Failure Of Sanctions Regime – Analysis
November 2, 2016 FSI 0 Comments
By FSI
By Louie Dane C. Merced*
North Korea's underground nuclear test on 9 September 2016 marks its fifth since 2006, and the first time that it conducted two in the same year. This is in addition to the country's series of test launches of mid-range surface-to-air and submarine-launched missiles, although with mixed successes. The growing frequency of these activities indicates North Korea's steady progress in its nuclear and missile programs, including the miniaturization of a nuclear weapon that could fit into an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). More importantly, it highlights how a decade of sanctions imposed by the international community has failed to induce any meaningful change in the behavior of the North Korean regime toward abandoning its nuclear weapons program.
Sanctions and the cycles of provocation
As the Korean Peninsula remains a flashpoint where armed conflict could erupt and where strategic interests of major powers directly intersect, the imposition of sanctions appears to be the most prudent response by the international community in managing the nuclear and missile provocations by North Korea. Given the failure of diplomacy and engagement to yield results (i.e. the Six Party Talks have not resumed since 2008), the international community has instead relied on economic penalties to compel the Kim Jong Un regime to stop further provocations. Every nuclear test by North Korea, in its continued disregard for international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation, has been met with strong condemnation and economic sanctions by the UNSC through the following resolutions: 1718 (2006), 1874 (2006), 2094 (2013), and 2270 (2016). The sanctions center on placing trade restrictions on conventional arms and materials related to the illicit nuclear and missile programs; freezing the financial assets and travel bans for North Korean nationals and officials involved in proliferation activities; and prohibiting export of luxury items.
Following the fourth nuclear test in January 2016, the UNSC passed Resolution 2270 which expanded the sanctions to include mandatory inspections by UN Member States of cargo going to and originating from North Korea which are transiting in their respective territories; bans on sale of aviation fuel to, as well as purchase of coal, iron ore, and other minerals from North Korea; and updating the list of North Korean entities that will be targeted by assets freeze.1 But as with all previous resolutions and rounds of sanctions, North Korea continued with another nuclear test in September –which is also believed to be its strongest yet. This raises anew the question: Why are sanctions failing to stop North Korea?
Gaps in implementation
A commonly held view is that China (and to some extent Russia) ensures that any international response would not severely cripple the North Korean economy and risk the collapse of the Kim regime. While China also prefers denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and is displeased with the nuclear provocations, it views the issue as secondary to preserving the stability of North Korea. China fears that a regime collapse would put its own domestic and geopolitical interests at risk: massive refugee flows to the Chinese border and the possibility of a unified Korean Peninsula aligned to the United States. Thus, aside from providing cover in the UNSC, China is also perceived as not being committed enough in implementing the sanctions. China is the main economic partner of North Korea, with USD 6.39 billion in bilateral trade in 2014;2 and amounting to as high as 90 percent of total North Korean trade.3 While there have been episodic dips in trade of oil and food which hint possible discontent by China about North Korea's behavior, it is unlikely that the relationship will be fundamentally changed.
While China's cooperation is crucial, the efficacy of the sanctions against North Korea also hinges on the actions by the rest of the international community. The 2016 report of the UN Experts Group created under Resolution 1718 reported several gaps that render the sanctions regime ineffective.4 It identified the means through which the North Korean government avoids the sanctions, such as linking with foreign companies, use of vessels under flags of convenience, and tapping its own diplomats to facilitate illicit activities including arms transfers. But equally critical are the gaps noted by the Experts Group on the implementation by other UN Member States. Apart from low rate of submission of national reports, several of the reports submitted are not clear on how Member States will enforce the resolutions.5 Several countries also lack the domestic legal and institutional frameworks and capabilities to carry out their obligations under UNSC resolutions. There is also low awareness on how North Korea evades the sanctions; while some countries simply place little priority in implementing the UNSC resolutions.
The Philippines' experience
The Philippines has been a strong advocate of nuclear nonproliferation and has actively participated in the discussions not only in the UN but also in other international regimes including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). It has also expressed, either unilaterally or through ASEAN and the UN, its support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Philippines has also submitted national implementation reports to the UNSC in which it noted the role of different agencies such as the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Bureau of Customs (BOC), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in enforcing sanctions against North Korea.6
In March 2016, shortly after UNSC resolution 2270 was passed, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported that it impounded and inspected MV Jin Teng, a Sierra Leone-flagged vessel but with known links to North Korea's Ocean Maritime Management (OMM). No illicit material was found and the ship was eventually released after China requested the UNSC to de-list the vessel in the resolution. The action by the PCG demonstrates that even though the nuclear weapons issue in the Korean Peninsula is not a direct and imminent threat to the country–in fact impounding the vessel may only risk getting the ire of the North Korean regime–the Philippine government dutifully complied with the obligations set by the UNSC resolution. Although far from being a model, the Philippines showed how each country can contribute to the implementation of UNSC resolutions.
The situation in the Korean Peninsula will largely be shaped by the interactions among regional powers –"a shrimp among the whales" as an old Korean saying describes it. However, achieving progress toward denuclearization also depends on the level of commitment by all members of the international community. Beyond the customary statements of condemnation and calling on the North Korean government to embrace international treaties on non-proliferation, all UN Member States should show diligence and undertake concrete steps in complying with the UNSC resolutions. Member States should cooperate with the UN and with each other in monitoring compliance and in enhancing each other's capability to enforce the sanctions. Upholding international rules and preserving order, whether it is in the maritime space or on the issue of nuclear and missile non-proliferation regimes, is therefore a collective commitment and responsibility.
The views expressed in this publication are of the authors alone and do not reflect the official position of the Foreign Service Institute, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Government of the Philippines.
*Louie Dane C. Merced is a Senior Foreign Affairs Research Specialist with the Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies of the Foreign Service Institute. Mr. Merced can be reached at [email protected]
1 Security Council Imposes Fresh Sanctions on Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2270 (2016), 2 March 2016, http://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12267.doc.htm (accessed 28 September 2016).
2 National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistical Yearbook 2015, Table 11-6 http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2015/indexeh.htm, (accessed 28 September 2016).
3 Ruediger Frank, "North Korea's Foreign Trade," 38North, 22 October 2015, http://38north.org/2015/10/rfrank102215/, (accessed 29 September 2016).
4 Report of the UN Panel of Experts established pursuant to Resolution 1874 (2009), UN Security Council S/2016/157, 24 February 2016, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2016/157, p.4 (accessed 29 September 2016).
5 Ibid, p. 10.
6 Note verbale dated 1 April 2014 from the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations addressed to the Chair of the Committee pursuant to Resolution 1718.
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CIRSS Commentaries is a regular short publication by the research specialists from the Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS) of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). It serves as a timely response and brief analysis of latest regional and global developments and issues that impact Philippine foreign policy. The CIRSS Commentaries also aims to contribute to a wider and deeper discussion of issues as they affect the Philippines and the region. The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) was established by Presidential Decree Number 1060 on 9 December 1976 as the career development arm of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). It was also tasked to provide training to personnel of the DFA and other government agencies assigned to Philippine foreign service posts. Since 1987, the FSI has been mandated to provide research assistance to the DFA and to participate in the Department's planning review process. The Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS) of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) undertakes studies in support of the formulation, review, and dissemination of Philippine foreign policy. It also organizes conferences, roundtable discussions (RTD), lectures, and forums as channels for interaction, cooperation, and integration of the efforts of local and foreign experts from government, private and academic sectors on foreign policy issues and their domestic implications.


Luisian Stage, major division of Miocene rocks and time in the Pacific Coast region of North America (the Miocene Epoch began about 26,000,000 years ago and lasted about 19,000,000 years). The Luisian Stage, which precedes the Mohnian Stage and follows the Relizian Stage, was named for exposures studied in San Luis Obispo County, Calif. Three subdivisions of the Luisian Stage are recognized, based on characteristic fossil foraminiferans—single-celled organisms having calcareous shells. The Luisian Stage is approximately equivalent in age to the Helvetian Stage recognized in Europe and elsewhere.


They say beauty comes from within, and music does so quite literally – most sounds of music are created inside the instruments. Now you can go where few have gone before: inside musical instruments, a concept with an exquisitely-produced campaign by German photographer Björn Ewers & Mona Sibai for the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker.
Different sounds emanate from various melodic mechanisms. While they all have their maker's marks and unique quirks, builds of instruments are standard. So, instead of shooting the entire Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, they've chosen to focus on the music more than the musicians in the print ads.
Macro shots taken by Mierswa Kluska capture the interior of a violin, cello, flute and pipe organ as if they were spacious airy chambers, filled with sunlight breaking from little cracks on the walls. The captured images make you believe that you could actually walk inside them and experience the feeling of mightiness and mystery. In fact, the insides look big enough to hold the symphonic rehearsals!
Visit Björn Ewers for more info.


23 September 2017, 4:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
The objective of the talk is to demonstrate the use of some iconic libraries, tied through the plot thread of achieving easy test analysis.
Numpy and MatPlotLib are two of the most important libraries in scientific Python, used for working with arrays and graphic representations respectively.
As a grey scale image in the end is nothing but a matrix, we can use basic image manipulation to show how to work with them with Numpy, like using slicing and numpy functions.
The easiest interface for Matplotlib, called Pyplot, is very useful to display a lot of graphs and plots with very little work. We can show an easy example of this by plotting detected contours over the image.
We can also show some of the most basics functions of OpenCV, one of the most important software for computer vision, which has a comfortable Python binding. We will use the blur, threshold and detect contours functions.
If there were enough time, we could also take a look at the openpyxl library, which we can use to export or import the results of the tests through excel sheets.
It may be important to explicitly note that, due to the limited amount of time available, no library can be deeply explored, and little or nothing will be live-coding demo. However, all the code necessary for generating all intermediate images will be provided through a Jupyter notebook via GitHub.