text:
OzTorah
Parashah Insights and Ask the Rabbi
Parashah Insights
Festivals & Fasts
Encountering the other – a halachic exploration
Paper by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple delivered at the Australian Council of Christians and Jews' "Engaging the other" conference, Brisbane, 29 September-2 October 2013.
The term "gentile" has come to mean the non-Jew, but this is not how it began. Originally it denoted someone who belonged to any people, even one's own. In the Tanach, even an Israelite was a goy. Only later were the gentiles outsiders: pagans or heathens, generally idolaters. Nothing is said of Christians: that would have been a gross anachronism, since Christianity had not yet come into being.
A major question for the halachah as expressed in post-biblical writings is whether the strict rules against associating with gentiles applied only to idolaters. As history unfolded and Jews lived in Christian lands, the "other" came to mean not only a gentile but particularly a Christian. We will touch later on the status of Islam, but our major focus will be the halachic attitude to the Christians.
We will see how the Talmudic rule against associating with gentiles underwent considerable relaxation. At first the strict law was increasingly disregarded because of the social and economic realities of living in a gentile environment; then came an ideological re-assessment of the nature of Christianity, resulting in a decision that Talmudic references to gentiles did not apply to Christians. Our exploration will weave through practical examples in which the nature of the "other" was an issue and will trace the halachic parameters and arguments.
1. TRADING WITH GENTILES ON THEIR FESTIVALS
We shall first show how pragmatic and then ideological modifications were made to the law which prohibited trading with gentiles on their festivals.
The tractate Avodah Zarah opens with a mishnah which forbids trading with gentiles on the three days preceding their festivals (the Hebrew word used for "festival" is ed, literally "a calamity": a cacophemism). The prohibition aims to prevent the Jew from becoming involved in the idol worship which took place on the day of the festival. It is axiomatic that idolatry is entirely baseless and that idolaters are transgressing the word of God, but the mishnah is not legislating for gentiles but for Jews. Its task is to tell Jews what to do or not to do and how to keep themselves away from even inadvertently supporting idolatry. Rabbi Ishmael attempted to prohibit trading, not only for three days before the festival but also for three days afterwards, but this view was not accepted by the sages.
The first amendment of the law came with a dictum of Samuel in the 3rd century that outside the land of Israel the prohibition applied only to the festival day itself, not to the preceding three days. Why was the law more lenient outside Israel? Rashi offers three reasons for Samuel's view:
a. In accordance with Rabbi Yochanan's statement in tractate Chullin, gentiles outside the land of Israel are not classified as idolaters: they simply continue the customs of their ancestors. It should be noted that Rabbi Yochanan does not explicitly explain why it is only outside Israel that gentiles are not regarded as idolaters. Some authorities hold that both Israel and the diaspora should be on the same footing.
b. Outside Israel, Jews live in the midst of gentiles and depend upon them for their livelihood.
c. The law takes account of yir'ah, the fear of repercussions.
By Rashi's time a further relaxation had taken place. Now Jews were trading with gentiles even on the actual day of the gentile festival. This is stated in the Tosafot, "supplementary" commentaries on the Talmud, reflecting the reality that the great fairs took place in Northern Europe on gentile religious festivals, and for the sake of economic stability the Jews carried on business at these fairs.
Rabbenu Gershom condoned this on the grounds that Jews depended upon gentiles for their livelihood and in any case the gentiles in whose midst these Jews were living were not idolaters in the ancient sense. Rashi said that the law against dealing with the gentiles could be waived on all but the main festivals of Christmas and Easter. The Tur ruled that in order to prevent evah, enmity, one could trade with the gentiles even on their main festivals. Others held that even without quoting evah, trading was still permitted. Isaac ben Sheshet said that everything depended upon "the time, the place and the people". Hence social and economic pressures at first led Jews to make their own decisions and disregard the letter of the law, and subsequently the rabbis found a rationale to justify the new situation.
In this area, Ashkenazi authorities on the whole exercised greater leniency than the Sephardim, reflecting the differing social and economic circumstances in which the groups lived. Sephardi experience is seen in a rather stern attitude towards Christians in Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah – despite the famous (but sometimes censored) passage at the end of Hil'chot Melachim in his Code in which he speaks with appreciation of Christians and Muslims helping to teach mankind morality and to prepare the world for the messianic era.
With Menachem Me'iri in the 13th century – an Ashkenazi – a new element arose. Instead of simply calling post-Talmudic gentiles non-idolaters, Me'iri gave them positive status as ummot hagedurot bedarchei hadattot, "peoples disciplined in the ways of religion". Without endorsing their theology, he confirmed that they believed in God, upheld moral standards and respected the rule of law, and could be treated in civil matters on the same footing as Jews. This virtually introduced a new classification, in between idolaters on the one hand and Jews on the other. This intermediate category, which equated Jews and gentiles for most practical purposes, was analogous to the ancient ger toshav, the "resident alien", whom the Talmud defines as a gentile who resolves not to worship idols; to keep the seven Noahide laws (this is the sages' and Maimonides' view); and to keep all the laws of the Torah with only one exception.
The first and second points are met by Me'iri's ummot hagedurot. Such gentiles are gerim toshavim, not idolaters, so Talmudic references to gentiles can no longer be taken at face value. To make this clear, halachic works often noted:
"Everyone knows that many of the laws in these books have no practical application in our time… Wherever there is a mention of akum, goy, nochri, etc. (synonyms for "gentile") the reference is to nations which did not acknowledge the true God and believe in the Divine revelation on Mount Sinai and the Decalogue, and were far from morality, pure standards and love of man. But the nations on whose soil we live and whose rulers protect us securely, believe in the Creator of all things and His revelation on Sinai, and have righteous statutes and judgments. Concerning these nations, our teachers and leaders commanded us to deal with them in love, uprightness and truth, at all times and in every sense."
2. SAVING THE LIFE OF A GENTILE
The change in attitude is relevant to the question of saving the life of a gentile. According to the Talmud, one must not endanger the life of a gentile, but if he is in danger he need not be saved. The relevant passage states that idolaters and shepherds (even Jewish ones) of small cattle must not be cast into a pit, though there is no obligation to rescue them from a pit. Why are shepherds viewed so harshly? Because they had a reputation for robbery and theft. Shepherds were disqualified as witnesses in a law court because they were suspected of grazing the herds in the fields of others and could not be considered reliable.
On the basis of this passage it was ruled that as a general rule the life of a gentile need not be saved. However, this law was excluded from practical application from early times. Moses Rivkes (Be'er HaGolah) explains that when the sages ruled against saving a gentile they were referring only to the idolaters of their own time. Gentiles of later ages, however, accept the basic principles of religious faith. There is no prohibition against rescuing them, and one should pray for their welfare and to do everything possible to preserve their lives.
3. ACCEPTNG A GIFT FROM A GENTILE ON HIS FESTIVAL DAY
The Talmud relates that on his festival day a gentile sent a gift to Rabbi Judah Nesi'a. Judah asked Resh Lakish, "What shall I do? If I take it he will go and praise his idols; if I do not take it he will show evah, enmity." Resh Lakish said, "Take it and throw it into a well in his presence!" Judah Nesi'a retorted, "How much more will this make him angry!" Resh Lakish said, "I mean throw it surreptitiously, so that it will not appear intentional". Based on this incident, the Tur rules that a Jew should not accept a gift from a gentile on the latter's festival day unless there is a fear of evah, in which case he may accept it but by throwing it away no benefit is derived. Does this ruling mean that the Jew has no benefit from the gift – or that the gentile derives no pleasure from the Jew's acceptance? The Tur is explained as holding the second view. However, in post-Talmudic times the gentile is not deemed an idolater and the law is interpreted leniently.
4. PARTICIPATING IN THE WEDDING FEAST OF A GENTILE'S SON
The Talmud asks about a gentile who invites the Jews of the town to his son's wedding. Even if the food is kasher, the halachah deems the Jews as if they had partaken of sacrifices to idols since the Torah states, "He will call you and you will eat of his sacrifice", indicating that to avoid supporting idolatry the invitation must not be accepted. Maimonides says the tenet of harchakah, "keeping away (from idolatry)", underlies the strict ruling. Joseph Karo, redactor of the Shulchan Aruch, says that even though a Jew may not eat at the gentile's banquet he may eat at a separate banquet. If the gentile sends kasher food to the home of a Jew, the latter may eat it without any suspicion of supporting idolatry.
5. PIKKU'ACH NEFESH OF A GENTILE
Another example of the halachic status of the "other" is whether a Jew may break Shabbat for the sake of a gentile. In many ways this is the most controversial aspect of the problem. It impinges on all walks of life, especially the medical arena. A cause celebre, probably apocryphal, arose in 1965 when Israel Shahak, a secularist professor of chemistry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, claimed that an orthodox Jew in Haifa had refused to call an ambulance for an African on Shabbat. The whole event was probably an anti-religious "beat-up", and Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits said that Shahak admitted to inventing the incident. Apparently the daily Ha'aretz asked Shahak to identify the place in Haifa where it happened but he was unable to do so. How Shahak claimed to know that the man requiring aid was a gentile was explained by the man's colour, though today that would not prove anything in view of the Ethiopian immigration and the number of coloured converts to Judaism.
Breaking a commandment in order to save life or respond to a health emergency is known as pikku'ach nefesh. The halachic rule is Pikku'cah nefesh docheh Shabbat, "an emergency overrides the Sabbath". Breaking Shabbat is an absolute prohibition like the three cardinal sins, idolatry, adultery and murder, which must not be committed even at the cost of one's life – yehareg ve'al ya'avor. The link between Shabbat and idolatry is that Shabbat testifies to the Creation: desecrating the day is tantamount to denying the Creator. However, life takes precedence over Shabbat. The foundation of this principle is in the Torah itself; the Mechilta offers a series of verses from which it could be derived:
a. Rabbi Ishmael says that if a person who kills a thief is exempt from liability (Ex. 22:1), how much more should it be permitted to save life on Shabbat;
b. Rabbi El'azar ben Azariah says that if circumcision, which involves only one part of the body, overrides Shabbat, how much more should saving the whole body be permissible on Shabbat;
c. Rabbi Akiva says that if punishment for murder (Ex. 21:14) overrides the Temple service, which in turn supersedes the Sabbath, how much more should the preservation of life supersede the Sabbath;
d. Rabbi Jose the Galilean says that in the verse, "But (ach) My Sabbaths shall you keep", ach denotes a distinction: "There are Sabbaths on which you should rest and Sabbaths on which you should not rest";
e. Rabbi Simeon ben Menasya (in the Talmud Yoma version of the debate, Rabbi Jonathan ben Joseph) says that the verse, "You shall keep the Sabbath because it is holy to you" (Ex. 31:14) shows that "the Sabbath is handed over to you: you are not handed over to the Sabbath";
f. Rabbi Natan (in the Talmud, Rabbi Simeon ben Menasya) quotes the verse, "The Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations", explaining, "Break one Sabbath for him so that he may live to observe many Sabbaths";
g. Rabbi Judah says in the name of Samuel that the verse, "He shall live by them (the commandments)" (Lev. 18:5) means, "he shall not die because of them".
Rabbi Natan's view is widely quoted. The Talmud says that for a one day-old infant the Sabbath may be desecrated, because hopefully he will live to observe many Sabbaths, but not for a dead David king of Israel, because dead people do not have to keep the commandments. For a person who is duty-bound to keep Shabbat, the day may be desecrated in order to save his life.
In the Maccabean wars, Jewish fighters died because they would not take up arms on Shabbat. Then it was ruled that Shabbat could be breached in an emergency, but not for a person who had no obligation to keep the Jewish Sabbath. The strict view was maintained, and extended to Jewish heretics, by the Chafetz Chayyim, who admits in his Mishnah B'rurah that there is widespread disregard of the rule but insists that it remains the law.
The Talmud asks about a midwife assisting a heathen woman. The Mishnah fears that she is delivering a child for idolatry, unless it is her paid profession. Abayye advises regarding Shabbat that a midwife should say, "For us who keep the Sabbath we may desecrate it; for you who do not keep the Sabbath we may not desecrate it". Tosafot allow her to break a rabbinic extension of the law but not a Torah commandment. Maimonides has a further distinction: if the woman giving birth is the daughter of a ger toshav the midwife may break a rabbinic rule "since we are commanded to preserve his (the ger toshav's) life": the Torah says, "He shall live with you". Maimonides forbids healing a gentile on Shabbat unless refusal would cause enmity, and even then it is allowed only in a professional situation.
From about the 17th century Jewish doctors, even the most orthodox, attended non-Jewish patients on the Sabbath. The rabbis saw what was happening and urged the doctors to keep any transgression to rabbinic laws and not Biblical commandments. The principle of evah was quoted: things which are normally prohibited can be done if good relations with the gentiles require it. The Chatam Sofer says, "Even a Biblical prohibition is relaxed if there is no alternative."
Responding to the Shahak case, Chief Rabbi IJ Unterman wrote an analysis of the ethic of respect and harmony in society, especially in the light of the verse, "Its (the Torah's) ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace". As an example of preserving all human life, he quoted Moses Isserles' ruling in the Shulchan Aruch that one may extinguish a light on Shabbat even in the house of a non-Jew if there would otherwise be a danger to life.
Rabbi Nahum L Rabinovitch says that pikku'ach nefesh applies to all humans by virtue of the verse, "You shall keep My statutes and observances; if a man does this, he shall live by them" (Lev. 18:5). "A man" includes everyone – priest, Levite, Israelite and gentile –provided they uphold the Torah.
Having marshalled the evidence of halachic development concerning the Christian "other", we now attempt some general conclusions.
Why did Judaism harness its assessment of Christians and Christianity to the ancient theme of idolatry? That idols and idolatry were bitterly opposed by Judaism is axiomatic. Not only was idolatry a false position: it was downright foolish. No logical person would deduce that the sticks and stones from which idols were made were worth worshipping; no sensible person could be so stupid. This was the judgment of the Psalmist, and Judaism never wavered from it.
Why then did Jews not debate the idolaters and persuade them that they were wrong?
There were some attempts, but it was not an age of intellectual democracy in which every point of view could be calmly presented with the possibility that some minds might be changed. It was too early for that. Even in the Middle Ages the disputations between Jews and Christians were staged and the Jews had no chance of coming out on top. Biblical and rabbinic references to idolatry were not necessarily directed at the idolaters but at the Jews. If idolaters indulged in false beliefs and worship, so much the pity; but Judaism was addressing a Jewish audience and its aim was to prevent Jews becoming drawn into idolatry. It had an overarching reason: as Isidore Epstein points out, idolatry was not just a false theology but a false morality. Compared to the strict ethical system of the Biblical tradition, idolatry propagated false values.
This is where the discussion of Christianity (and Islam) comes in. Regardless of their theology, were they a false morality? If they were, Judaism had to apply the stern prohibitions against dealing with idolaters. Thanks to Menachem Me'iri and similar teachers, Judaism decided that the other monotheistic faiths fostered morality and uprightness and Jews could work with them.
NEW TESTAMENT PEOPLE: A RABBI'S NOTES
Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple's book discusses some 98 themes in the New Testament and Christianity and shows how Jesus and the early Christians can only be understood against a Jewish background. Rabbi Apple never resiles from his own faith and commitment, but sees the book as a contribution to dialogue.
The softcover and ebook editions are available from Amazon, AuthorHouse, The Book Depository (free worldwide shipping), and elsewhere online.
This entry is filed under Articles, Interfaith Issues.
Categories Select Category Articles (598) Aboriginal Recon. (3) Antisemitism & Racism (11) Australian Jewry (127) Bar/Bat Mitzvah (3) Belief (13) Bible/Tanach (78) Book Reviews (38) British Jewry (56) Calendar & Dates (2) Circumcision (1) Conversion (2) Death & Bereavement (12) Defining Jews & Judaism (11) Ethics & Morality (21) Eulogies, Obituaries & Memorial Addresses (45) Evil (9) Food & Kashrut (3) Freemasonry (65) G-d (11) History (122) Holocaust (32) Interfaith Issues (113) Israel (36) Law & Government (21) Leaders & Leadership (5) Marriage & Divorce (2) Medical & Health Issues (4) Misc. Addresses (39) Music (2) Non-Orthodox Movements (6) Other (42) Prayer (26) Rabbinic Profiles (42) Temple & Tabernacle (7) Texts (12) War & Peace (28) Women's Issues (6) Workplace (1) Ask The Rabbi (1,282) Afterlife (8) Angels (7) Animals (14) Antisemitism & Racism (13) Bar/Bat Mitzvah (10) Belief (39) Bible/Tanach (61) Business & Economy (27) Calendar & Dates (37) Charity (8) Chassidut (11) Circumcision (7) Commandments/Mitzvot (24) Conversion (19) Crime & Punishment (24) Culture (24) Death & Bereavement (53) Defining Jews & Judaism (38) Education & Study (33) Ethics (45) Family & Children (33) Food & Kashrut (45) Gentiles & Other Faiths (63) God (53) Head Covering (4) Holocaust (11) Israel (25) Kohanim (17) Law & Government (38) Marriage & Divorce (50) Medical & Health Issues (33) Messiah (7) Mezuzah (7) Miracles (3) Mysticism (15) Nature & Environment (14) Other (63) Prayer (150) Rabbis (42) Relationships & Dating (10) Science & Technology (25) Shabbat (46) Sport (9) Superstition (6) Synagogue (41) Tefillin (7) The Body (35) Tzitzit/Tallit (7) War & Peace (18) Women's Issues (37) Festivals & Fasts (1,067) 17 Tammuz (13) Asarah B'Tevet (4) Chanukah (102) Ellul (19) HaChodesh (4) Lag Ba'Omer (15) Nachamu (4) Parah (10) Pesach (217) Purim (62) Rosh Chodesh (7) Rosh HaShanah (172) Sh'kalim (1) Sh'mini Atzeret (15) Shabbat Chazon (3) Shabbat HaGadol (1) Shavu'ot (110) Simchat Torah (43) Sukkot (80) Ta'anit Esther (1) Tishah B'Av (53) Tu B'Av (4) Tu BiSh'vat (11) Tzom G'daliah (2) Yom Atzma'ut (13) Yom HaSho'ah (18) Yom Kippur (151) Yom Y'rushalayim (5) Zachor (10) Parashah Insights (1,931) Acharei Mot (22) B'chukkotai (40) B'har (25) B'midbar (37) B'reshit (55) B'shallach (40) Balak (36) Beha'alot'cha (47) Bo (42) Chayyei Sarah (44) Chukkat (39) D'varim (29) Ekev (45) Emor (38) Ha'azinu (5) K'doshim (33) Ki Tavo (35) Ki Tetzei (41) Ki Tissa (37) Korach (39) Lech L'cha (49) M'tzora (23) Mass'ei (26) Mattot (15) Mikketz (32) Mishpatim (41) Naso (36) Nitzavim (23) No'ach (49) P'kudei (31) Pinchas (36) Re'eh (39) Sh'lach L'cha (45) Sh'mini (46) Sh'mot (47) Shof'tim (37) T'rumah (43) T'tzavveh (33) Tazria (28) Tol'dot (44) Tzav (27) V'zot Habrachah (8) Va'era (43) Va'et'channan (64) Vayakhel (26) Vayelech (12) Vayikra (35) Vayyechi (45) Vayyera (47) Vayyeshev (31) Vayyetzei (40) Vayyiggash (39) Vayyishlach (39) Yitro (65)
Out of the goldfish bowl – Prince Harry and the Queen
Making an appearance – Va'era
Equal partners – Va'era
Names & generations – Sh'mot
Jacob & the Jewish quarter – Vayyechi
Rabbi Apple's Latest Book
OzTorah is a weekly email service and website exploring the timeless teachings of Jewish tradition from a contemporary Australian and global perspective. The site includes insights into the parashah, an Ask the Rabbi forum, and articles on various Jewish and interfaith issues.
To sign up to the weekly e-mail list, Contact Us.
You can also subscribe to our RSS feeds below:
All Oztorah Content
The Great Synagogue
© 1997-2020 OzTorah
by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple AO RFD
The content on this site may be distributed and reprinted, as long as acknowledgement is given to Rabbi Raymond Apple and the URL is included intact. https://www.oztorah.com.
This theme, ContempOT, was designed by ambor based on the theme Contempt.
WordPress generated this page with 31 queries, in 0.175 seconds.


Everyone loves an end of the world theme and with Kaiju you get just that, with a Japanese theme of monsters destroying cities and taking over the world. Boku Slots love a good monster movie and Elk Studios have lent their brilliance to Kaiju and brought the big screen to the small screen.
Kaiju is a 5-reel slot with 7776 ways to win in play and an RTP of 96.3%, for anyone brave enough to take on the monster. Set against a backdrop of a high-tech cityscape, you are playing to beat the Kaiju monster. There are only seven symbols in play, these are your red, green and blue crystals, red, green and blue cards and of course the scatter. Whether this has any detrimental effect on game play we will have to see, but with 7776 ways to win we don't see how it can be a bad thing?
Bet Amounts – Betting begins at 20p per spin and can be increased to a maximum of £100 per spin. However, Elk Studios has a variety of betting strategies that can also be applied whilst your reels are spinning, which can amend the bets automatically for you as you will see below.
Jumper – bet amount is raised by 1 step after every win until you reach four levels above your base bet amount. This will reset after each loss is incurred returning you to the base bet amount you began with.
Wild Symbol – In Kaiju there isn't a designated wild symbol as such. Instead as the reels spin you will see that certain combinations will result in a wild landing above the reels. The wild will land on the reel that the top most symbol in the winning combination is on and will help create bigger wins. It will substitute for all other symbols except the scatter.
Scatter Symbols – HA-42, the girl character you see in the introduction video is your scatter symbol. By landing three of the HA-42 symbols on reels 2, 3 and 4 you will trigger the bonus battle game.
Kaiju Battle Feature – Having triggered this feature by landing three of the scatter symbols, you will be taken to your bonus spins of which you will have 7 in total to begin with. One of the three coloured Kaiju monsters will be in the background as the reels spin and this is the monster you will need to defeat. The word Kaiju will be at the top of the reels in a different lay out, depending upon the monster you are battling. As the reels spin you will receive sticky wilds, and they will in turn expand the reels in a bid to reach the letters at the top of the reels. As each reel reaches a letter, that whole reel will turn wild for one respin. Once the last letter is completed all symbols in that last reel will remain wild, until the end of the round. This feature can turn out to be very profitable once it lands.
Kaiju is a fast-paced game in as much as the wins do happen often in the base game. The bonus feature however is a little harder to trigger. That being said, once you do activate the battle bonus it can go on for some time, if you manage to get those wilds on the reels and reach the kaiju letters. Elk Studios has put some thought into the game as they usually do with most of their offerings. It is a very enjoyable game, but it does lack in extras. By that we mean that as the bonus game is quite tricky to land, a few extra bonuses or randomly triggering features may have helped it go along a bit quicker.


text:
Vietnam: Draft Public - Private Partnership (PPP) Law: Impacts on large-scale energy and infrastructure project development and financing
Vietnam April 21 2020
The government of Vietnam recently submitted to the National Assembly a new draft of the proposed Law on Public - Private Partnership (PPP) investment ("Draft PPP Law"), together with its report of reviews of comments.1
Compared to the previous draft version, the new Draft PPP Law provides for some improvements, but leaves a number of critical risk allocation and bankability issues unresolved.
These issues include the following:
The removal of government guarantees and undertakings for obligations of state-owned enterprises (e.g., in the power and energy sector, EVN's energy payment guarantees under PPAs notwithstanding electricity market reforms)
Minimum revenue guarantee concerns over financial feasibility for certain projects, and flexibilities in terms of implementation for different sectors and projects in different scales when fixing thresholds under the proposed risk-sharing mechanisms
Foreign currency convertibility limitations and uncertainty on foreign exchange indexation to tariffs
Change-in-law risk allocations and legal value of PPP project contracts against existing or future discretionary permits and administrative documents issued by state-authorized agencies
Governing law for the interpretation of the terms of PPP contracts and associated enforcement issues (for the new wordings added) and dispute resolution
Lack of guarantees and assurances for termination payments and compensations in events of early termination of PPP project contracts
Lender's step-in right, restrictions on share transfers, and other project development and project financing issues
In addition, while promoting PPP investments and creating a stable and long-term legal framework has been set as an overall objective, the issues on flexibilities and certainties from a private sector's perspective remain to be a significant concern. A number of areas of the Draft PPP Law have introduced restrictive regulations and tighter requirements. These include: limited sectors eligible for PPP investments and limited roles of the private sector for unsolicited projects; rigid principles of state capital portion uses and associated concerns over efficiency of proposed mechanisms; and restricted timeline to achieve financing arrangement of PPP projects.
The Draft PPP Law is proposed to be applicable to numerous ongoing or newly proposed power, energy and infrastructure projects in Vietnam, with its effect proposed from 1 January 2021.
At the moment, the new Draft PPP Law still leaves certain key risk allocation and bankability issues unresolved. Hopefully, the Draft PPP Law will be properly revised to resolve those as well as ancillary drafting issues before it can be finalized for adoption in the coming National Assembly's meeting in May 2020.
In the meantime, investors and financial institutions should review these draft rules in order to be prepared to take the necessary steps to best position themselves for growing investment opportunities in infrastructure projects and in the provision of public services in Vietnam. Moreover, regulatory issues for project developments and project financings based on best practices can be better addressed with the proper understanding of these draft rules and their developments.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to know more about any of the following:
Further details and other areas of the Draft PPP Law, as well as differences between the Draft PPP Law and the Current Regulations on PPP and how they impact ongoing large-scale energy and infrastructure projects
Specific implications for particular sectors of LNG-to-power and other energy projects, water supply and treatment, expressway, airport, seaport infrastructures, etc., as well as their specialized legal developments
Potential upcoming additional guidelines related to infrastructure projects
Specific opportunities, challenges as well as legal and practical solutions for development and investment in energy and infrastructure projects in Vietnam
Overview of Vietnam's PPP investment market
According to the government's Report No. 25/BC-CP in 20192:
Vietnam had 336 PPP projects for which PPP contracts have been signed (including: 140 projects under BOT contracts, 188 projects under BT contracts and 8 projects under other types of PPP contracts)
For those projects, a total amount of about VND 1,609,295 billion (approximately USD 70 billion) has been mobilized and utilized for investment and development of infrastructure projects in Vietnam.
According to the government's Proposal No. 354/TTr-CP dated 27 August 2019 to the National Assembly on the Draft PPP Law, PPP projects have been implemented in the sectors of: (i) transport (with a total of 220 projects, accounting for 65.47%); (ii) power and energy (with a total of 18 projects, accounting for 5.35%); (iii) water supply, sewerage and environment (with a total of 18 projects, accounting for 5.35%); and (iv) all other sectors (with a total of other 80 projects, accounting for 23.83%).
Vietnam has been looking for the best approach to promote more private sector capital and participation in the infrastructure sectors since as far back as 1991, when the first "Build - Operate - Transfer" (BOT) rules were adopted. More recently, multiple regulations relating to PPP have been developed in order to promote private investments for infrastructure enhancement.
On 4 May 2018, the government promulgated Decree No. 63/2018/ND-CP ("Decree No. 63") and subsequently, the MPI and other ministries issued more detailed guidelines to govern the implementation of Decree No. 63 (collectively, the "Current Regulations on PPP").
In mid-2018, the MPI prepared the Draft PPP Law, meant for adoption around mid-2020 and for tentatively taking effect from 1 January 2021. In March 2020, the MPI and the government submitted the new draft version to the National Assembly for further review and comments.
The need to adopt the proposed Draft PPP Law
According to the government, it is necessary to adopt a separate law to regulate PPP investment activities and avoid the current situation of "borrowing" regulations from other laws during the application process, in order to set up a stable and sustainable legal framework on PPP investments.
In this respect, the Draft PPP Law provides that in case of any discrepancies between the proposed PPP Law and other laws, the proposed PPP Law shall prevail. However, the application of this provision is limited only to certain matters, including investment process and procedures of PPP projects; PPP project company's operations; governing laws of PPP project contracts; investment assurances; and mechanism for management of state capital in PPP projects. This leaves uncertainties on how to interpret discrepancies in a number of other areas proposed in the Draft PPP Law (e.g., whether more or less restrictive or favorable regulations from a private sector's perspective would prevail, subject to other rules of interpretations under current law).
Under the Draft PPP Law, as a principle of management of PPP investment, PPP projects must conform to the relevant master plans under the Law on Master Planning. Moreover, Investment Policy Decisions (as investment approvals) issued by state-authorized agencies must be consistent with the master plans. However, the Draft PPP Law has yet to provide for specific mechanisms to simplify the master plan approval process for PPP projects, given that it is still a complex and time-consuming process under the current regulations.
The role of PPP project contracts
The Draft PPP Law has yet to clarify the prevailing legal value and interpretations of the negotiated PPP project contract (as the contractual agreement of the public sector's contracting party and private sector investors) against discretionary permits and administrative documents issued by state-authorized agencies.
In this respect, the Draft PPP Law lists out: (i) state-authorized agencies (including those agencies issuing Investment Policy Decisions and other permits and licenses to PPP projects); and (ii) agencies signing PPP project contracts (i.e., the public sector's contracting parties). It also provides that agencies signing PPP project contracts will be state-authorized agencies or other units under such state-authorized agencies' management and authorized by such state-authorized agencies. However, the Draft PPP Law has yet to clarify how to deal with cases where existing or future discretionary permits and administrative documents issued by the state-authorized agencies contradict contractual agreements with investors under PPP project contracts, as well as whether the investors would be protected from risks and liabilities due to changes in laws, policies and permits.
Investment sectors
Under the Draft PPP Law, the proposed PPP investment sectors have been narrowed down compared to the current regulations.
For this limited scope, the government has explained that the Draft PPP Law has been drafted and designed to eliminate those sectors that have not been implemented under the PPP arrangement or those that have been implemented but have been ineffective or unattractive to the private sector or have been sufficiently implemented under other modes of investment (e.g., socialization or private investment).3
In order to accommodate certain flexibilities for the public sector, the government has proposed under the Draft PPP Law that if a proposed project does not fall within any of the above-specified sectors, the competent state agency may report to the Prime Minister regarding their proposed projects in other sectors and seek permission of the proposed sectors to be implemented under the PPP form.
For any such proposal of competent state agencies, the Draft PPP Law requires all of the following conditions to be fully satisfied:
The proposed project falls within the sectors that are governed by the Public Investment Law.
The proposed project is able to balance state capital when implemented under the PPP form.
The proposed project is more feasible when it is implemented under a PPP form than public investment.
However, the Draft PPP Law does not give private developers any similar right to propose PPP investment for projects not falling within the above-specified sectors. For example, in the power and energy sector, as the Draft PPP Law limits PPP investment only to "electrical power plants and electrical power grids," it remains unclear whether for other associated components of energy (oil and gas) projects other than power generation plants (IPPs) and transmission facilities (e.g., LNG terminal projects, regasification projects, pipeline/gas transportation projects), the private investors of those projects would or would not have the option to propose PPP investment form if they wish to obtain more governmental support under a PPP framework instead of a normal private investment framework.
Based on the Draft PPP Law's current wordings, the addition of new sectors eligible for PPP investments would require relevant state-authorized agencies' proposal and the Prime Minister's approval on a case-by-case basis, if all set conditions are met. Otherwise, an amendment to the law would be required. As such, this might not be well aligned with the goal of creating a stable and long-term legal framework. The focused strategy on some key sectors does not necessarily mean that other sectors will have to be excluded from PPP investments under the proposed Law. The needs of private sector participations can emerge for new sectors; and private sector investors may also need governmental support in a wide range of sectors.
Classification of project scheme
The Draft PPP Law inherits the current regulations of Decree No. 63/2018/ND-CP, under which there are seven types of basic project contracts that are divided into three groups:
Projects with collection of fees from users (BOT, BTO, BOO, O&M)
Projects with state's payments based on the quality of public products and services provided (BLT and BTL)
Projects with exchange between resources and infrastructure works (BT)
Project contract types other than those mentioned will be subject to competent agencies' proposal to the Prime Minister, to be considered and approved based on appraisal opinions of the state management agency on PPP before the competent agencies issue an Investment Policy Decision.
Under the Draft PPP Law, PPP projects that involve renovating, upgrading, expanding, modernizing, operating, and conducting business activities of existing infrastructure facilities and systems will not be allowed to use project contracts that collect fees directly from end-users (i.e., BOT, BTO, BOO or O&M contract).
Capitalization for PPP projects
The investors and PPP project companies are responsible for contributing equity capital and mobilizing loan capital and other lawful sources of capital to implement the project.
Under the PPP Draft Law, within 12 months from the signing date of the PPP Project Contract, the investors and PPP project companies are required to complete financing arrangements. For projects whose Investment Policy Decisions are under the approval authority of the National Assembly or the Prime Minister, the completion period must not exceed 18 months.
The PPP Project contract will take effect only when the investor and/or the PPP project company has completed financing arrangements.
However, the Draft PPP Law is not entirely clear as to whether "financing agreement" refers to the financial close date (e.g., the date on which all the debt financing documents have been signed and all conditions precedent to initial drawdown of initial loans have been satisfied or have been waived by the financing parties).
For equity capital required to be injected by project sponsors/investors, the investors must contribute equity capital of at least 15% of the total project investment capital (excluding any state capital portion).
Government assurance and guarantees
According to the government's proposal and explanations, a PPP project is a project implemented to provide public products and services (for public purposes) through private investment (private capital) and/or private management. Under the PPP framework, the government of Vietnam aims to call for private sector participation in contributing financial resources, and use intellectual and management capability from all economic private sectors to make up for the state budget shortage. Therefore, the government should take certain responsibilities and obligations in ensuring the feasibility of the projects by providing certain support, assurances and guarantees (rather than pushing the entire responsibility and risks for implementing projects to the private sector as for normal private investment trade and commerce projects).4
However, the Draft PPP Law fails to settle some of the key issues that affected bankability under the Current Regulations on PPP. Specifically, the proposed mechanism for sharing revenue increase and decrease may not be equivalent to government guarantees on minimum revenue (for Stand-Alone Projects) as the proposed mechanism for sharing revenue increase and decrease is subject to strict limitations and conditions and remains favorable to the public sector (rather than the private sector of investors and lenders). Also, fixing thresholds for minimum revenue guarantees may create concerns over financial feasibility for certain projects and flexibilities in terms of implementations, given that the level of guarantees may vary in different sectors and projects in different scales.
Also, amid concerns over sources of foreign currency at the national reserve, the ''guarantee'' for the balance of foreign currency can only be granted to certain limited important projects, with limited guarantee for foreign currency balance to no more than 30% of the project revenue in Vietnamese dong after subtracting expenditures to all PPP projects. The Vietnamese government's approach to these points will have to be closely monitored as they are of the most important concern for foreign investors and lenders. Overall, as the Draft PPP Law sets such a threshold on all PPP projects in Vietnam, which creates concerns over both uncertainties and the lack of flexibilities. This may also not be aligned with the proposed law's set objectives of attracting foreign investors with strong financial capacity in PPP investments to large-scale projects or of increasing the attractiveness of PPP projects. This directly impacts the bankability of projects.
In addition, the Current Regulations on PPP under Decree No. 63 provides for government guarantees for obligations of state-owned enterprises. Specifically, under Decree No. 63, depending on the nature and requirements for the implementation of the projects, the guaranteed obligations can include: (i) the supply of raw materials, the sale/consumption of products and services, and other contractual obligations to the investor, the project company and other enterprises participating in the project's implementation; and (ii) the obligations of state-owned enterprises, which sell fuel and raw materials to, or purchase products and services from, the investor and the project company. For example, in case of power generation businesses with the national electricity company (EVN) being the off-taker, the government guarantee can cover EVN's energy payment obligations under the power purchase agreement, or the fuel supplier's obligations to provide the fuel under the fuel supply agreement. However, the Draft PPP Law has removed this mechanism of government guarantees for obligations of state-owned enterprises.
Under the Draft PPP Law, the land use purpose of the project remains unchanged in the entire implementation term of the PPP project contract, including where the lenders exercise their step-in rights. However, this level of assurance of rights of access to land may not be sufficient to address practical issues on land clearance delays for certain projects and locations without stronger support, assurances and implementation mechanisms from the local governmental authorities.
In terms of assurance of the right of mortgage of assets and the rights to commercially operate infrastructure facilities and systems, while mortgage of right to business in favor of lenders is expected to enhance lender's control over the projects and function of the lender's step-in right, we note that in Vietnam, mortgage over land-use rights in favor of foreign banks is still restricted under the Land Law. Therefore, certain arrangements such as those involving a domestic security agent and bank account mortgage over sale proceed are necessary in order to include land-use rights into the security package for foreign banks -- although validity and permissibility of such arrangements have not fully been guaranteed. As the legal basis is uncertain and the State Bank of Vietnam can challenge such arrangements, the Draft PPP Law remains unresolved as to whether an offshore lender can take a security interest over land and buildings if an onshore security agent is appointed.
Project step-in rights of lenders
Under the Draft PPP Law, lenders have rights to step in and take over the whole or a part of assets of the investors and/or the PPP project company ("project step-in rights") that have been set up under their contracts if the investors or the PPP project company fail to perform their obligations under the project contract or the loan agreement.
The Draft PPP Law provides that lenders may propose to the competent state agency the appointment of another investor to sign the project contract and continue its performance to ensure the continued supply of public products and services. For such projects requiring investor appointment to be implemented right away to ensure continued supply of public services, the lender must carry out procedures for transferring partly or wholly assets it has received from such other investors as designated by the competent state agency. This implies that proposals by lenders on appointment of another investor will be subject to the competent state agency's approval as the word "designate" gives certain discretions to the competent state agencies on whether or not to agree with lenders' proposals. This may create uncertainties as to the enforcement of project step-in rights from a lender's perspective.
In addition, while the Draft PPP Law imposes an obligation for lenders to transfer project assets to the new investor, it has yet to clarify on the appropriate allocation of risks and liabilities between involved parties to preserve commercial rights of lenders under the loan agreements for financing of the projects. The Draft PPP Law provides that the agreement on the above-described arrangements must be made in a written contract between the lender(s) and the contracting parties. This agreement will be an integral part of the PPP project contract. However, the Draft PPP Law does not clearly impose an obligation on the state agency contracting party to enter into a direct agreement with lenders, and the current provisions of the Draft PPP Law may not be sufficient to obligate state agencies to negotiate and sign such direct agreement to create certainties for lenders to exercise their rights.
Governing Law of PPP project contracts
Under the Draft PPP Law, the PPP project contract, its appendices and other relevant documents signed between the Vietnam state agencies and the investors/PPP project company are governed by Vietnamese laws. The new version of the Draft PPP Law has recently added that "for matters for which Vietnamese laws do not regulate, the parties may agree in detail in the PPP Project Contract on the basis of being not contrary to the fundamental principles of Vietnamese laws."
However, the added wording of the Draft PPP Law does not make any reference to "foreign law," and so the applicability of foreign law as the governing law of PPP project contracts remain uncertain.
In addition, as the Draft PPP Law imposes a qualification regarding matters that Vietnamese laws do not regulate, the agreement on governing law for those issues must not be contrary to the fundamental principles of Vietnamese laws. This raises another enforcement issue that those rules practically allow a Vietnamese court to refuse the application of foreign law in cases where it is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of Vietnamese law.
Unlike the "applicable laws" concept, the concept of "governing law" of a contract refers to parties' choice of a specific law to interpret concepts and terms of the contract. It is impractical and unenforceable for parties to specify, in the PPP project contract/concession agreement, "matters for which Vietnamese laws do not regulate" and which are "not contrary to the fundamental principles of Vietnamese laws."
As this clause applies to all PPP projects setting a compulsory and non-negotiable rule, it continues raising concerns for foreign investors and financiers over flexibilities of parties to negotiate the governing law of PPP contracts on a project-by-project basis, as well as the lack of predictability in terms of the interpretation of concepts and enforcement of obligations of parties involved. This clause may also not be aligned with the proposed law's set objectives of attracting foreign investors with strong financial capacity in PPP investment to large-scale projects, or of increasing the attractiveness of PPP projects.
Under the Draft PPP Law, disputes between the competent agency, the contract signing agency and a foreign investor or a PPP project company established by a foreign investor are resolved by: (i) Vietnamese arbitration; or (ii) a Vietnamese court, unless agreed otherwise in the PPP project contract or provided otherwise under an international treaty to which Vietnam is a member. In this case, the Draft PPP Law does not specifically refer to "foreign arbitration" or "international arbitration." However, based on the underlined wordings, foreign investors will have to negotiate for "foreign arbitration" or "international arbitration" on a project-by-project basis, and this will put foreign investors in a weak negotiating position.
To view all formatting for this article (eg, tables, footnotes), please access the original here.
Baker McKenzie - Frederick (Fred) R. Burke, Chi Lieu Dang, Oanh H. K. Nguyen and Thanh Hai Nguyen
Projects & Procurement
Foreign exchange market
Vietnam: Draft regulations affecting e-commerce platforms *
Vietnam: Draft Decree guiding the Investment Law 2020 *
Vietnam government issues the main decree guiding the implementation of the 2019 Labor Code on working conditions and labor relations *
Vietnam: Workshop on consultation of draft amendment of IP Law *
ASEAN Single Window and the Electronic Transmission of Form D among Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam *
Related Vietnam articles
Vietnam: Public - Private Partnership (PPP) Law: Implementation - Impact on large-scale energy and infrastructure projects *
New PPP laws in Vietnam: moving closer towards bankable projects ? *
New PPP Decree coming soon: enhanced legal framework for infrastructure projects in Vietnam *
Related international articles
An emerging trend * - Tajikistan
Public Private Partnerships in China * - China
Middle East & Africa PPP Guide - The emergence of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the Middle East and Africa * - Middle East
Nadia Martel
C2MI
" I am very pleased with the content of the Lexology newsfeeds. They are a centralized way of getting legal related updates from many jurisdictions and a great way to stay informed with a minimal time commitment."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Say goodbye -- to the Fourth of July
by Bill Press, Tribune Content Agency Jun 13, 2019 3 minutes
Once upon a time, and it wasn't so long ago, the Fourth of July was our one truly national holiday. It didn't matter whether you were a Republican or a Democrat, rich or poor, gay or straight, black, white, Latino, Native American or Asian American, this was the one day we put aside all our differences to celebrate the land we love.
And nowhere was the Fourth more grandly celebrated than here, in our nation's capital: a parade up
Independence Day (United States)
NPR3 min readPolitics
In Fourth Of July Address, Trump Hails Military As Fighter Jets Fly Above
Washington observers wondered if the president would take the highly-publicized remarks into politics, but instead he highlighted the military and implored Americans to "stay true to our cause."
The Atlantic6 min readHistory
When the Fourth of July Was a Black Holiday
After the Civil War, African Americans in the South transformed Independence Day into a celebration of their newly won freedom.
Trump Wants Tanks on the National Mall. What Could Go Wrong?
A show of military might to gratify the president's ego—on Independence Day, no less—is yet another blow to republican virtue.
More from Tribune Content Agency Opinions
Tribune Content Agency Opinions4 min read
The Mop Closet Of American History
"They were quiet, and just staring, blankly," she said. "There were just blank stares and no expressions on their faces." Welcome to hell, as presided over by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This image bears deep reflection. It doesn't change. Ch
Tribune Content Agency Opinions3 min readSociety
Do R. Kelly, Jeffrey Epstein Arrests Signal A Turning Point Against 'Rape Culture'?
It may be more than coincidental that R&B music star R. Kelly and well-connected Wall Street financier Jeffrey Epstein were arrested in the same week on federal charges related to sexually abusing underage girls. For one thing, as Labor Secretary Ale
Hungary's Sound Immigration Policy
Two summers ago on a visit to Budapest, I asked the spokesman for the Hungarian government about the growing problem of migrants coming into Europe. He told me Hungary doesn't have a migrant problem because they don't have welfare programs. So, he sa


What is the 21st century besides dates? How are we to start thinking about the new period? In what ways is it significant that the new century is also a new millennium? What do we see as the political, economic and social markers of the new century? In what ways are our particular fields of study constructing/contesting the new century? Within our own fields, do we consider there to be particular characteristics, trends or paradigms that we would regard as peculiarly 21st century? And are there similarities/differences/tensions between the disciplines on these questions?
It was an excellent way to begin an interdisciplinary dialogue about 21st century studies and I'm sure we will come back to these questions in future meetings.
See Events and Conferences (on the right hand side) for details of past and future activities.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on May 29, 2012 by Dr Sian Adiseshiah.


text:
GAMECIP
The Game Metadata and Citation Project
GameSpace is a three-dimensional visualization of 16,000 games on Wikipedia. The visualization uses natural language processing (NLP) machine learning algorithms to position games based on their Wikipedia article text. This is the same process (latent semantic analysis) that was used to derive the GameNet, GameSage, and GameGlobs models, with an additional step that uses t-stochastic neighborhood embedding (TSNE) to provide each game with a three dimensional coordinate in a "galaxy" of games.
GameSage
GameSage is a tool that takes free-text input describing an idea for a videogame and lists the existing games that are most related to that idea. This tool utilizes the notion in LSA of folding in, whereby a new document that was not used during model training is fitted with a representation in the semantic space derived by the model. By treating the user's input text (which specifies her game idea) as a corpus document (on par with the videogame Wikipedia articles we used to train our LSA model) and folding it in, we are able to derive an LSA vector for the idea. From here, we determine which existing games (from among GameNet's 11,829 games) are most related to the game idea by using cosine similarity, just as we did in constructing GameNet.
GameNet
Gamenet is a tool for videogame discovery in the form of a hypertext network in which related games are linked. Users start at a game of their choice and can explore the network by following links to related games or by jumping across the network through a link to a highly unrelated game. In addition to links to its most related and unrelated games, each game's entry gives a text summary of it, extracted from Wikipedia, as well as links to YouTube gameplay videos and images from Google. The tool is able to reason about relatedness among nearly 12,000 games automatically through a technique from computational linguistics called latent semantic analysis.
GameGlobs
GameGlobs is a two-dimensional visualization of various clusterings of the games in our LSA model. A user selects how many clusters (groups of related games) she would like to see the 11,829 games partitioned into. Each cluster is drawn as a circle that can be clicked to display the games it contains, which are stylized as hyperlinks to their entries in GameNet. The clusterings themselves were derived by applying the classic k-means algorithm to the games' LSA vectors
This site maintained by: ekaltman@soe.ucsc.edu
University of Calfornia, Santa Cruz, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz, CA 95064


Accounting concepts and general principles are integrated with applications by working through the complete accounting cycle for a service business (sole proprietorship & partnership). Emphasis is placed on analysis and interpretation as well as recording, classifying and summarizing accounts. A computerized practice set is completed in class providing hands-on experience prepping students for vocational and college institutes as well as real-world careers.
Please complete to submit Accounting Lessons - make sure that your file has been saved with your LASTNAME and the file name.


text:
Captain America and the Avengers for Nintendo (NES) - Used
Captain America and the Avengers for Nintendo (NES)
The popular arcade game CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE AVENGERS has come crashing onto the Nintendo. Red Skull is using his mind-control device to lead the forces of evil against all that is good, with the intention of taking over the universe. It's up to you as one of four superheroes Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, or Vision to take on Red Skull's minions and keep the world safe. Through five levels of mind-blowing action, you'll fight the good fight, collect power-ups, and do whatever it takes to keep the villains down. There's also a two-player option that lets you go head-to-head against a friend.


text:
There's going to be a special edition Brexit 50p coin and people have a lot of thoughts
Chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to announce the new coin in his Budget speech
Alex Wood
A special edition 50p coin will be issued next year to mark the UK's official departure from the European Union - but not everyone is happy with the news.
Chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to confirm plans for the controversial new coin in Monday's Budget speech.
According to The Sun, which has spearheaded the campaign for a Brexit-themed coin, the new 50p will feature the Queen's head and the date March 29, 2019 - the day the UK will leave the EU.
A brand new 50p coin commemorating Brexit is to be issued on the day the UK leaves the EU
The phrase 'Friendship with all nations' will be printed on the other side of the coin.
Special edition 50p coins were issued when the UK first joined the European Economic Community in 1973 and again in 1998 when the UK held the presidency of the EU.
These 50p coins in circulation could be worth thousands
The Sun newspaper has claimed the minting of the new 50p as a "victory" saying it had "campaigned for the Government to create an enduring gesture to mark Brexit as a landmark national moment".
The newspaper quoted sources as saying Brexit was "an historic moment which will rightly be commemorated".
It also said, according to Treasury sources, the department had been secretly working on plans for the coin for months, before Conservative MPs began to campaign for one.
Reaction to the Brexit 50p coin
Do you support the plans for a Brexit 50p coin?
The rare 50p coins that could be worth thousands
The prospect of a brand new 50p coin has already caused a stir among avid coin collectors. But did you know there are already some 50ps in circulation that are worth hundreds?
If you fancy an easy few quid, you could do worse than checking your pockets to see if one of these is inside.
Rare notes and coins
50p coin makes £100s on ebay
Your £2 coin could be worth a fortune
Check your change for these prized coins
More rare coins worth a fortune
Peter Rabbit - 2016
One cheeky seller is flogging this rare coin for over £8million. In reality, the coin - perhaps the most currently sought after - is worth a lot less. But punters have shelled out as much as a grand - not a bad profit, eh?
Woman shook baby son and fractured his skull and ribs
The coin is part of the Royal Mint's Beatrix Potter collection.
This rare design - showing a close-up portrait of the beloved bunny - is a major collector's item.
These coins are going for as high as thousands on eBay.
Battle of Hastings - 2017
It took place in 1066 - and you could get a similar sum if you find this coin.
Collectors are desperate for this coin - despite The Royal Mint's Coin Magazine only valuing it at a meagre £2.
Frost on its way to Bristol as temperature set to drop
There are dozens under the hammer on eBay - although one seller may struggle to get the £5 million they are after.
However, another went on sale for £1,750 this week - and at that price, buyers could find themselves in a battle to nab it.
Olympic Swimmer - 2012
Launched to mark the 2012 Olympics, only 600 were ever produced.
The distinctive looking coin has wavy lines across the swimmer's face.
And if you find one, you could be in luck.
Eight of the UK's most prolific speed cameras are in the same place
These have changed hands for as much as £800.
And if you fancy gabbing a bargain, one coin which the seller claims is one of the rare designs, is going for £500 on eBay.
Click here to view the full list of rare 50p coins here.
FirstGroup


Thank you for visiting Spirit of Hope OnLine.
Look around ~ explore ~ see what we offer.
COME AND JOIN US ON SUNDAY and feel the connection of the Spirit of Hope community. If you would like someone to meet you at the front door to show you around ~ Call us 763 545 0239!
Wherever you are on your faith journey, we hope you will find your place here and you will leave with a song in your heart … WELCOME!


The US and South Korea on Monday kicked off their largest ever joint air exercise, an operation North Korea has labelled an "all-out provocation", days after Pyongyang fired its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile.
The annual exercise comes five days after the nuclear-armed North test-fired a new ICBM, which it says brings the whole of the continental United States within range.
In recent years Pyongyang has accelerated its drive to bring together nuclear and missile technology capable of threatening the US, which it accuses of hostility.
"The preemption is becoming more likely as their technology matures. Every missile test, every underground test of a nuclear weapon, means the marriage is more likely," Graham said.
His remarks echoed those of Trump's National Security Adviser HR McMaster, who told a security forum on Saturday that the potential for war with the North "is increasing every day".
This year's US and South Korean wargames feature a number of powerful jet fighters newly mobilised for the event, including six F-22s and 18 units of F-35 combat jets, the US air force said.
It also involves simulated precision attacks on the North's military installations, including its missile launch sites and artillery units, Yonhap news agency said, citing unnamed Seoul sources.
They are also sceptical that Pyongyang has mastered the sophisticated technology required to protect such a warhead from the extreme temperatures and stresses encountered as the missile hurtles back to Earth.
The latest launch, which saw the missile drop into Japan's economic waters, was condemned by Tokyo's parliament Monday, which slammed the North's rogue weapons programme as an "imminent threat".
"This is a frontal challenge against the international community that must not be tolerated," added the resolution by Japan's upper house, which came as the country's hawish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said talking to the reclusive state was "meaningless".
The North's leader Kim Jong-Un has presided over significant progress in the country's widely-condemned nuclear and missile programmes since taking power in 2011.
A nuclear standoff between Kim and Trump in recent months has seen the pair trade personal insults.
The tensions have fuelled concerns of another conflict, more than six decades after 1950-53 Korean War that left much of the peninsula in ruins.
But even some Trump advisers say US military options are limited when Pyongyang could launch an artillery barrage on the South Korean capital Seoul — only around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the heavily-fortified border and home to 10 million people.
Estimates on the potential casualties from another war vary widely.
The North has thousands of conventional artillery units along the border with the South that analysts say could kill tens of thousands.
In one of the latest estimates, Scott Sagan, senior fellow at the Centre for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, said the toll could be as high as one million people from just the first day of a conflict.


text:
I am not yet a proper musician; but I have more aptitude for the calling than probably many of the younger generation have as a rule. It gets knocked out of you.
Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period.
2 Attributed
3 Quotes about Brahms
How lucky is the man who, like Mozart and others, goes to the tavern of an evening and writes some fresh music. For he lives while he is creating.
High on the mountain, deep in the valley, I greet you a thousandfold.
It always saddens me to think that after all I am not yet a proper musician; but I have more aptitude for the calling than probably many of the younger generation have as a rule. It gets knocked out of you. Boys should be allowed to indulge themselves in jolly music; the serious kind comes of its own accord, although the lovesick does not. How lucky is the man who, like Mozart and others, goes to the tavern of an evening and writes some fresh music. For he lives while he is creating.
Letter to Clara Schumann (12 February 1856) as quoted in Johannes Brahms : A Biography (1997) by Jan Swafford, p. 153
I wish I could write to you as tenderly as I love you and tell you all the good things that I wish you. You are so infinitely dear to me, dearer than I can say... If things go on much longer as they are at present I shall have sometime to put you under glass or to have you set in gold. If only I could live in the same town with you and my parents... Do write me a nice letter soon. Your letters are like kisses.
Letter to Clara Schumann (31 May 1856) as quoted in Letters of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, 1853-1896 (1971), edited by Berthold Litzmann
Notes on a postcard to Clara Schumann (12 September 1868)
There is so much that is true in your letter — if not all— and I must confess that with remorse and regret; but with pleasure and satisfaction I realise how kind it is — only an angel like you could have written so kindly... Life is a wild polyphony, but often a good woman like you can bring about some exquisite resolution of its discords.
Letter to Clara Schumann (15 October 1868), as quoted in Johannes Brahms : A Biography (1997) by Jan Swafford, p. 340
On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.
Discussion of the Chaconne in Bach's Partita for Violin #2. Litzman, Berthold (editor). "Letters of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, 1853–1896". Hyperion Press, 1979, p. 16.
Attributed[edit]
If there is any one here tonight whom I have not offended, I apologize!
As quoted (prefaced by the qualification, "There is a story that one evening, on leaving, Brahms said...") in One Hundred Songs by Ten Masters: Volume II (1917), edited by Henry T. Finck, p. XII
Quotes about Brahms[edit]
He came as a true friend, to share with me all my sorrow; he strengthened my heart as it was about to break, he lifted my thoughts, lightened, when it was possible, my spirits. ~ Clara Schumann
He came as a true friend, to share with me all my sorrow; he strengthened my heart as it was about to break, he lifted my thoughts, lightened, when it was possible, my spirits. In short, he was my friend in the fullest sense of the word. I can truly say, my children, that I have never loved a friend as I loved him; it is the most beautiful mutual understanding of two souls. I do not love him for his youthfulness, nor probably for any reason of flattered vanity. It is rather his elasticity of spirit, his fine gifted nature, his noble heart that I love... Joachim, too, as you know, was a true friend to me, but... it was really Johannes who bore me up... Believe all that I, your mother, have told you, and do not heed those small and envious souls who make light of my love and friendship, trying to bring up for question our beautiful relationship, which they neither fully understand nor ever could.
Clara Schumann, in her journal, as quoted in Johannes Brahms : A Biography (1997) by Jan Swafford, p. 164
I played over the music of that scoundrel Brahms. What a giftless bastard! It annoys me that this self-inflated mediocrity is hailed as a genius.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Diary entry for October 9, 1886, quoted in Nicolas Slonimsky, Lexicon of Musical Invective (1953), p. 73.
Applying here Brahms' contributions to an unrestricted musical language will enable the opera composer to overcome the metrical handicaps of his libretto's prose; the production of melodies and other structural elements will not depend on the versification, on the meter, or on the absence of possibilities for repetitions. There will be no expansion necessary for mere formal reasons and changes of mood or character will not endanger the organization. The singer will be granted the opportunity to sing and to be heard; he will not be forced to recite on a single note, but will be offered melodic lines of interest; in a word, he will not be merely the one who pronounces the words in order to make the action understandable. He will be a singing instrument of the performance. It seems-if this is not wishful thinking-that some progress has already been made in this direction, some progress in the direction toward an unrestricted musical language which was inaugurated by Brahms the Progressive.
Arnold Schoenberg, "Brahms the Progressive" (1933)
Brahms Institut, Lübeck Academy of Music
The Lied and Art Song Texts Page created and maintained by Emily Ezust Texts of the Lieder of Brahms with translations in various languages.
Johannes Brahms: list of works from http://www.johannesbrahms.org
Photo of Brahms as a young man in 1853
Brahms Listening Guides. A collection in progress of detailed guides to the composer's works, linked to specific recordings but also including measure numbers
Listings of live performances at Bachtrack
Works by or about Johannes Brahms in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Johannes_Brahms&oldid=2806500"
Composers from Germany
Pianists from Germany
People from Hamburg


text:
How Employers Can Create and Sustain a Religiously Inclusive Workplace
DOMINIC LAWSON: What's really ungodly is smugglers getting rich while asylum seekers drown
DC Artist Celebrates Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court Victory With Stunning Mural
The $1 Million Challenge: "If the Shroud of Turin is fake, show how it was made" | Christianity
The End of Roe c. Could Wade save the Democrats in November?
Diversity is the new national religion. Woe to all agnostics
How the 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Cast Responded to JK Rowling's Anti-Trans Views
Films that define the movement
Butler Delivers Annual Greeley Lecture for Peace and Social Justice | News
Anthea D. Butler, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, delivered the Harvard Divinity School's…
The transition from SFO to MFO
Pierre Sasaki began his entrepreneurial adventures as a manager of macro-hedge funds. He is…
Nepal's Chief Justice Suspended, Adding Political Chaos
The suspension is likely to deepen the confrontation between the Nepalese government and opposition parties.…
Christian doctor David Mackereth, who was sacked over trans views, will fight in the High Court
Dr David Mackereth (pictured) lost his battle with the DWP because he refused to refer…
Religion and Science – The Organization for World Peace
Religion is by nature a subjective social construct that has existed since antiquity. The intangible…
Women only make up 6% of candidates vying for 14 seats in Ludhiana
Even though political parties from all walks of life are loudly claiming their work for…
Faith and Economy by Gregg Motley
Gregg Motley. President of Regional Economic Development, Inc. Photo submitted. It may seem counterintuitive to…
'Know What You Desire' – Love Lessons From Our Old Romantics
As Valentine's Day approaches, we're getting advice from seniors across the country on what they've…
Wisconsin Supreme Court clears ballot box ban for April election
Wisconsin's Supreme Court ruled on Friday that it would allow a ban on the use…
Capitol Christian Music Group Promotes EJ Gaines to VP Marketing/Co-Executive Director of Motown Gospel
Nashville, TN – Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) has promoted EJ Gaines to VP Marketing/Co-Executive…
Previous 1 … 23 24 25 26 27 … 114 Next


text:
Carl Christian Hansen eller C.C. Hansen er navnet på flere personer:

 Carl Christian Hansen (fotograf) (1809-1891) – dansk fotograf
 Carl Christian Hansen (stabsintendant) (1873-1952) – dansk stabsintendant
 Carl Christian Hansen (skibsreder) (1878-1955) – dansk skibsreder, direktør for Østasiatisk Kompagni

Desuden:
 Carl Hansen (borgmester) (1870-1940) – dansk redaktør, politiker og borgmester i Skive (Carl Christian Hansen)
 Carl Hansen (1873-1954) (1873-1954) – dansk kunstmaler (Carl Christian Ferdinand Hansen)
 Carl Christian Fleischer-Hansen (1894-1948) – dansk overlæge, dr.med.
 Constantin Hansen (1804-1880) – dansk kunstmaler (Carl Christian Constantin Hansen)
 Frederik Carl Christian Hansen (arkitekt) (1858-1923) – dansk arkitekt
 Frederik Carl Christian Hansen (læge) (1870-1934) – dansk læge, professor og bogsamler

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
'Why Him?' was surprisingly enjoyable and a lot more than I was expecting
December 20, 2016 August 30, 2021 Ashleah
I wasn't sure what to think about Why Him? when I originally got the email about the advanced screening. I didn't research much about it because I like going in to screenings with an open slate, no preconceived notions. But based on the movie poster (with Franco and Cranston's names but not the actress playing the daughter) and the synopsis ("dad forms bitter rivalry with daughter's rich boyfriend, who is about to pop the question!") I wasn't really expecting much from this movie.
But the casting: Bryan Cranston, James Franco, Megan Mullally, and Keegan-Michael Key! Jonah Hill co-wrote the story, and Ben Stiller helped produce the film. So I went to the screening with an open mind and low expectations and I have to say, this film was dirty, hilarious, and quite a lot more than I was expecting!
I was worried that this would be have a classic but cringe-worthy daughter-as-property type bent. However, Stephanie (Zoey Deutch) held a lot of her own agency in the film, which was a welcome surprise. Deutch did a great job holding her own around veteran comedy actors. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in the future.
Ned (Cranston) and Barb (Mullally) are a lovely, seemingly straight-laced couple from Michigan who are KISS super-fans. I especially loved Mullally, as she's one of my all-time favorite comedic actresses. (I saw the original cast of Young Frankenstein on Broadway just for her and Sutton Foster… Also Roger Bart, but his understudy went on during my showing. Sadface.)
The writers did a great job of having Laird (Franco) grow on you throughout the movie. He starts off a little brazen and rash, and grows up a bit throughout the film. He had a not-so-great childhood, never met his father, and grew up with an overbearing mother whom he's not close with. He never really had the family that he wanted, and he's hoping that he can build one with Stephanie. He's a classic eccentric millionaire who has free-range chickens and even an alpaca on the premises.
Laird's facility manager Gustav (Key) was probably my favorite character in the film. He is super strange but has a heart of gold. He doesn't just upkeep the grounds, he's also Laird's best friend. Their bromance is pretty wonderful.
Stephanie's little brother, Scott (played by Griffin Gluck) is an adorably hilarious ray of sunshine. He easily stole the stage from some of the other actors. He's sure to have a bright future in comedy.
There's a ton of wonderful cameos in the film, including Elon Musk (as himself), Adam Devine and Andrew Rannells. Cedric the Entertainer was wonderfully hilarious as Ned's second in command at his printing business.
If you like a raunchy holiday family comedy, this is the movie for you. There's a ton of swearing, some nudity (be prepared to see Franco's butt towards the beginning of the movie), and drug use. I laughed out loud pretty often in this film, as did the rest of the people in the theater, which is always a great sign.
The film comes out on December 23, 2016. I'd definitely recommend it!
Previous postQuick Review: Harmony Black Series (Urban Fantasy, 2 books out so far)
Next postThe Maidens is a great choice for a dark academia reading prompt


text:
Sidewalk Empire: Streets 3/60
Eddie Ahn
Sidewalk Empire: Streets
"Sidewalk Empire" is a serialized webcomic written and illustrated by Eddie Ahn. "Sidewalk Empire" has two story arcs: "The Avenues" and "Streets." The first story arc, "The Avenues," is now complete, and the second story arc, "Streets," will be updated twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. Eddie's website is ehacomics.com.
Read more about Sidewalk Empire: Streets 3/60
It's Our Turn
JANUARY COMIC SERIES: KIMJANG DAY, PART ONE
Film Review: 'The Girl from the Naked Eye'


We believe in using the collective power of people to solve society's most pressing challenges. We connect people who care with organisations doing good. Join us on this journey.
You're invited to TFN Live Melbourne, a high-impact live crowdfunding event where you can directly support three incredible grassroots changemakers.
Refreshments and canapés will be generously provided by our event partner Accenture. Tickets are limited, so book your spot now to be part of an unforgettable evening of collective giving.
Anna Donaldson started Lively after seeing first-hand how many older Australians live in loneliness and isolation. At the same time, she was concerned by youth unemployment and the number of young people she knew who couldn't get a foot in the door due to lack of experience. She founded Lively to connect and address these two issues, and to build a more age friendly community. Anna is passionate about bringing fresh ideas, energy and enthusiasm to Australia's aged care system.


This Playmobil figure has a brown jacket, a blue hat, red trousers, black hair and a teenage beard. He also has a gun, a sword and a bag that looks like it has some newly stolen booty inside.
This box also contains a treasure chest along with gold coins. If you carry the included parrot it will be one of the most complete pieces of any collection, it even has its wooden leg.
Get this and many other figures here on our website.


text:
Open and Shut Cases
Margaret Jackson
Margaret Jackson is an award-winning journalist who spent three decades in the newspaper industry, including seven years as a business reporter for the Denver Post, where she covered both residential and commercial real estate. She has been a freelance writer since 2005.
Let There Be LIGHT! Gaylord Rockies Open for Business.
1 year ago | Construction Watch
You don't need to check in to check it out.
Denver Housing Authority Has Lands of Opportunity for Developers
1 year ago | Business
Why does the DHA sell property rather than build affordable housing there?
Denver Mountain Parks Are Ready for Their Close-Up
2 years ago | Colorado History
Once on the rocks, the system is getting help from citizens' groups,
City Lot Could Have Been Affordable Housing but Will Become Offices Instead
2 years ago | Denver Development
The city is passing up on the opportunity to create 200 affordable-housing units within walking distance of Union Station despite an executive order issued by Mayor Michael Hancock in 2016 that says that affordable housing is a priority and that a...
South End of Broncos Stadium to Become Entertainment Destination
A nonprofit created by the Metropolitan Football Stadium District, a political subdivision of the state, and the Broncos has been exploring creating a mixed-use neighborhood destination on the property, which is currently occupied by surface parki...
Elitch Owner Fishing for Redevelopment of South Platte...and the Amusement Park
The owner of Elitch's has a 25-year plan to develop the property.
More Margaret Jackson Articles


text:
From farm to table, Brooklyn CSAs continue to foster community
By Reyna Iwamoto
A full share from the Ditmas Park CSA.
Ditmas Park CSA
For Brooklynites looking for a different way to get fresher produce and help the surrounding community, CSAs are the way to go.
A CSA is a community supported agriculture program that supports independent farms. The program — the roots of which date back to the 1920s — allows members of the community to make an investment in local farms, pre-ordering shares of produce for the season's harvest.
These farmers and CSA groups then work together to agree on the prices and dates of distribution for such shares. Prices and sizes of shares vary depending on the CSA and their plans, with most offering fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, bread and/or meat.
CSA programs benefit the community by providing fresh, farm-grown produce to people, while the farmer benefits by having a portion of their produce pre-sold.
Justianna Kubersky has been a member of the Ditmas Park CSA program for the past seven years.
"There are a few big benefits to joining a CSA," Kubersky said. "There is the obvious one: fresh local produce that is sometimes more than you can eat!"
But, the Ditmas Parker said, it's also much more than that.
"I have benefitted by becoming a better cook to think of creative ways to use up my share," she said. "But I also know that every summer I will always have fresh, tasty tomatoes and cucumbers and salad greens! It's an embarrassment of riches!"
Many CSA's are member-run organizations, relying on volunteers to set up, clean up and help distribute shares.
Kubersky told Brooklyn Paper that being able to meet and work with other people in the community to make the distributions happen is another plus side to being part of a CSA program.
"The time commitment to the distribution is usually two hours per year for most people, and it's a fun community event to pick up the CSA share each week," Kubersky said.
Jenna Harris, who is part of the East Williamsburg CSA core group, said that being part of a CSA program has also been a way for her to stay in touch with her community.
"I have been able to meet people in my neighborhood I definitely would not have met otherwise," Harris said, adding that she's also been able to experience cooking with new produce, such as Japanese eggplant, that she would not have tried had she not received it in her CSA box.
Since joining a CSA program, Kubersky said that another benefit has been feeling more "in tune with nature."
"Some years, we get lots of basil. Other years, we get lots of zucchini. There's always a great variety, but the shifts in the produce are often connected to the weather, so it's interesting to see how things grow differently each year," Kubersky said.
The Ditmas Park CSA works with Amantai Farms, which is run by Jorge Carmona, a Colombian immigrant who works about 20 acres of land in Pennsylvania.
"Our farmer is the most wonderful and kind person. He often includes special extras on his shares like mint or garlic scapes," Kubersky said. "If he knows someone really likes something, he tries to include it whenever he can. He brings produce for 80 people once per week during the season, and it's always as good and often better than the farmer's market."
Karen Oh, the founder and general coordinator of the Prospect Lefferts Garden CSA, emphasized the point that CSAs help people become more connected with the food they consume and the process it goes through to get from farm to table.
"People don't know where their food comes from and how hard it is to grow it. It's a way for them to connect to the fact that there is a farmer — a person — at the end of the food chain and they have to make it work," Oh said.
"When it rains like crazy, I hope people realize that farmers are having to deal with flooding and working in the muck. If it's super hot, I hope they get the connection that someone had to pick in the heat," Oh added.
Oh wants others to know that CSAs are more than a food distribution model, as they are tied to "philosophy around food justice," "operating within capitalism" and the community.
Besides helping farmers and bringing a fresh taste of nature to Brooklyn, the Ditmas Park CSA donates a share to a local food bank every week. The CSA also continued distributions during the height of the pandemic, with prepackaged and outdoor distributions, providing a way for people to connect with nature.
"We've been pleased that many people come back every year and it's nice, especially in Brooklyn, to know your neighbors!" Kubersky said.
The Ditmas Park CSA offers full and partial produce shares and will run for 20 weeks from approximately June 22 through Nov. 2. Although the harvest season has begun, the CSA is still accepting members on a prorated basis. For more information, visit the Ditmas Park CSA website or write ditmasparkcsa@gmail.com.
Here are other CSA programs in Brooklyn:
Garden of Eve Farm
Local Roots NYC
Bay Ridge CSA
Yellow Hook CSA
Sweet Pea CSA – Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Bridge CSA – Brooklyn Heights
Clinton Hill CSA
Cobble Hill CSA
Crown Heights Farm Share
Brooklyn Beet CSA – Downtown Brooklyn
DUMBO and Vinegar Hill CSA
East Williamsburg CSA
Flatbush Farm Share
Greene Harvest CSA – Fort Greene
Park Slope CSA
Greenwood Heights CSA
Prospect Lefferts Garden CSA
Sunset Park CSA
Prospect Heights CSA
Southside CSA
Industry City businesses pivot to producing protective gear for health care workers
Do-gooders install outdoor fridge with free food in Bed-Stuy
City's largest rooftop farm opens in Sunset Park
Organic growth: Full-up Slope Co-op inches toward expansion, surveying members on potential new outpost


text:
          <button id="filtersButton" type="button" class="btn btn-secondary pull-left" ng-click="toggleFilters();">
            {{ 'FILTERS' | translate }}
          </button>

              <button type="button" class="btn label filter-pill pull-left" ng-click="toggleSelection(filter)">{{ filter }}</button>

        <select id="selectedLanguage" class="form-control pull-right" ng-model="selectedLanguage" ng-change="changeLanguage(selectedLanguage)">
          <option ng-repeat="lang in languages" ng-selected="lang.languageCode == selectedLanguage" value="{{lang.languageCode}}">{{lang.languageName}}</option>
        </select>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
[kakao](../../index.md) / [com.agoda.kakao.common.matchers](../index.md) / [ChildCountMatcher](index.md) / [<init>](./-init-.md)

# <init>

`ChildCountMatcher(size: `[`Int`](https://kotlinlang.org/api/latest/jvm/stdlib/kotlin/-int/index.html)`)`

Matches view with size no of children


text:
Grand jury in Russia probe 'continuing robustly', says prosecutor
Democrats in Congress now insist Barr must quickly release its full findings. Barr said he'll release at least a partial version in April.
But Mueller referred some matters he discovered to US attorneys' offices. It's not entirely clear what else a grand jury, whose dealings are generally secret under law, may be considering.
The case in court Wednesday centred on a corporation owned by a foreign government, neither of which have been identified. The corporation was held in contempt for refusing to turn over information demanded by Mueller's investigators. The Supreme Court had rejected an appeal from the corporation on Monday, and the case is now being handled by prosecutors in Washington.
The corporation has been racking up fines of $US50,000 ($70,000) a day for not complying with the grand jury subpoena for documents. Fines have been accruing since Jan. 15 and could total more than $US3.5 million. New daily fines stop once the grand jury is discharged.
Scepticism mounted over Barr's four-page synopsis, which was released Sunday and found no evidence President Donald Trump's campaign «conspired or coordinated» with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election. The longer it takes to release the full findings from special counsel Robert Mueller, the more Democrats, in particular, warn they will question the legitimacy of Barr's actions.
US Representative Elijah Cummings. Credit:Bloomberg
The push came as the House moved ahead with its own oversight of the Trump administration, including an Intelligence Committee hearing scheduled Thursday on Russia's role in the 2016 election.
Representative Elijah Cummings the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said he was «disappointed» Barr would take weeks, not days, to release the report.
«The president has now an opportunity for weeks, it sounds like, to do these victory laps,» said Cummings, noting that Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, is among those headed to jail as a result of the probe. «Cohen goes to jail, the president runs a victory lap.»
Attorneys for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a motion seeking access to court filings tied to the subpoena fight that developed during Mueller's investigation. The attorneys also sought the name of the mystery corporation, arguing in part that although the investigation was closed, the public's right to know remains.
«It really is a special situation,» Theodore Boutrous, the attorney who represented the press freedom organisation, argued in court. «We have a company, owned by a foreign nation, litigating all the way to the Supreme Court.»
During Wednesday's hearing, Chief Judge Beryl Howell then asked prosecutors whether a grand jury investigation was continuing despite Mueller handing over his report last week.
«I can say it is continuing robustly,» Goodhand responded.
Howell ruled partially in favour of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, saying that redacted court documents and transcripts from a contempt hearing and other motions could be released, but gave the government time to redact the motions. She didn't decide on how long they would get to redact the documents, but said she was mindful of the scope of the task.
The judge did not say whether she would release the name of the corporation or country. Attorneys for the mystery corporation attended the hearing Wednesday, only to say their client would prefer not to be publicly outed and would also prefer not to say why in open court.
Boutrous said he was pleased with the ruling. He said he was hopeful the judge will eventually make the name of the corporation public.
Most Viewed in World
Источник: Theage.com.au
Tags: World NEWS
Next story Donachie looks to Europe move after Victory loan spell ends
Previous story ASX recoups its losses
В Киеве пенсионер, выдавший себя за продюсера, изнасиловал студентку
В Судане произошёл военный переворот, – СМИ
Бундеслига: Сумасшествие в Дортмунде


I have always believed that developments need to be in consultation with local people and that Green-belt should be protected.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has publicly "welcomed" the proposed revisions to the NPPF.
I am pleased that the revised NPPF gives further clarification to the existing strong protections for the Green Belt. It sets out the steps which a local planning authority must take before concluding that "exceptional circumstances" exist to allow boundaries of the Green Belt to be altered. I am confident this will help protect the Green Belt in our local community. Furthermore, I am pleased that the revised NPPF reaffirms protections for areas of outstanding national beauty and national parks.
The draft NPPF will also introduce a new standardised approach to assessing housing need which help to ensure that new homes are delivered in areas of high demand. I am also pleased that the revised NPPF sets out the need to prioritise the use of brownfield land and the importance of delivering more affordable housing. Furthermore, like the CPRE, I welcome that the draft NPPF "clarifies the primacy of local and neighbourhood plan policies in determining planning applications".
I am confident that the reforms to planning outlined in the draft NPPF will help address the housing crisis, building on the progress which the Government has already made, including delivering more than 1.1 million homes since 2010. Houses are needed to be built in the right areas so that more people can have the opportunity of owning their own home.


text:
Q: Snap install of "instagraph" works but can't log in even after changing password I wanted an Instagram client that would run on my Ubuntu 19.10 Gnome desktop; I found out that the app "Instagraph" can be installed with snap, so I went ahead and did so using:

sudo snap install instagraph

After this, I ran the app from the command line so that I could see if any errors occurred:

instagraph

What I got was this:

Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "gail"
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "atk-bridge"
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
Qt: Session management error: None of the authentication protocols
specified are supported
OffscreenRenderer::OffscreenRenderer(QObject*)
QNetworkManagerInterface::QNetworkManagerInterface(QObject*)
propsReply "An AppArmor policy prevents this sender from sending this
message to this recipient; type=\"method_call\", sender=\":1.663\"
(uid=1000 pid=19917
comm=\"/snap/instagraph/86/opt/Instagraph/bin/Instagraph \"
label=\"snap.instagraph.instagraph (enforce)\")
interface=\"org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties\" member=\"GetAll\" error
name=\"(unset)\" requested_reply=\"0\"
destination=\"org.freedesktop.NetworkManager\" (uid=0 pid=846
comm=\"/usr/sbin/NetworkManager --no-daemon \" label=\"unconfined\")"
QNetworkManagerInterface::QNetworkManagerInterface(QObject*) nmReply
"An AppArmor policy prevents this sender from sending this message to
this recipient; type=\"method_call\", sender=\":1.663\" (uid=1000
pid=19917 comm=\"/snap/instagraph/86/opt/Instagraph/bin/Instagraph \"
label=\"snap.instagraph.instagraph (enforce)\")
interface=\"org.freedesktop.NetworkManager\" member=\"GetDevices\"
error name=\"(unset)\" requested_reply=\"0\"
destination=\"org.freedesktop.NetworkManager\" (uid=0 pid=846
comm=\"/usr/sbin/NetworkManager --no-daemon \" label=\"unconfined\")"
"Object path cannot be empty"
UCUriHandler: Empty "APP_ID" environment variable, ignoring.
qrc:///Main.qml:104: TypeError: Cannot read property '__clarityFilter'
of null
file:///snap/instagraph/86/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-
gnu/qt5/qml/Ubuntu/Components/1.3/Button.qml:108:25: Unable to assign
[undefined] to QFont
file:///snap/instagraph/86/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-
gnu/qt5/qml/Ubuntu/Components/1.3/Button.qml:103:33: Unable to assign
[undefined] to QQuickGradient*
file:///snap/instagraph/86/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-
gnu/qt5/qml/Ubuntu/Components/1.3/Button.qml:92:27: Unable to assign
[undefined] to QColor
APP_ID isn't set, the handler ignored
qml: challenge_required
qml: login failed
APP_ID isn't set, the handler ignored

After resetting my Instagram password via email authentication and the Instagram website, closing the app and rerunning it from the command line several times, I kept getting the same error, and no login. Instagram prompted me with several security codes and messages that an unidentified device was attempting to log into my account, and asking me to affirm that it was me. I did so. Still unable to log in.
As someone who avoids using Snap whenever possible, and who may/may not have a full understanding of the syntax involved, I'd like to know if anyone has a fix that I could run, or if anyone else's encountered the same issue before and solved it. Thank you.

A: Read your error messages! The first few:
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "gail"
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "atk-bridge"
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
Qt: Session management error: None of the authentication protocols
specified are supported
OffscreenRenderer::OffscreenRenderer(QObject*)
QNetworkManagerInterface::QNetworkManagerInterface(QObject*)
propsReply "An AppArmor policy prevents this sender from sending this
message to this recipient; type=\"method_call\", sender=\":1.663\" (uid=1000 pid=19917

Should tell you that you're missing some authentication modules ( gail, atk-bridge, canberra-gtk-module), and that later attempts at authentication will fail ("Qt: Session management error: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported").
Subsequent error messages, like:
QNetworkManagerInterface::QNetworkManagerInterface(QObject*)
    propsReply "An AppArmor policy prevents this sender from sending this
    message to this recipient; type=\"method_call\", sender=\":1.663\" (uid=1000 pid=19917

Are just the results of failing authentication, propagating through instagraph startup.
This question has been seen before, and has a well-liked answer here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange