Swiss couple assaulted in Agra; Sushma seeks information Senior Agra police officials told The Hindu that “loot was the motive for the attack on the Swiss couple”. Quentin Jeremy Clerc and his partner Marie Droz, both in their twenties, were first stalked and harassed, and later brutally assaulted with sticks and stones, by a group of five persons in Fatehpur Sikri near Agra on October 22.“The culprits have told us that they wanted to rob valuable stuff like camera from the Swiss couple. Section 326 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code), which is related to voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, has been added to the FIR (First Information Report),” said a senior official supervising the probe.The accused were earlier booked under Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and Section 325 (punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt).One abscondingTwo of the five accused arrested on Thursday were presented in the court on Friday and sent to jail. The remaining three under-age boys have been sent to a rehabilitation centre in Agra.Also Read A sixth accused, who is also possibly a minor, is still absconding, said the police.In its first official statement, the Uttar Pradesh police had suggested that “public display of affection” (PDA) had provoked local youths to attack the couple with stones on Sunday afternoon in Fatehpur Sikri.The FIR registered by the Fatehpur Sikri police suo motu after the tourists refused to file one, claims that the couple was indulging in “alingan sparsh” (PDA) in the bushes near the railway track. However, police statements made thereafter omitted this aspect of the incident and only say the couple became engaged in “a dispute” with some local youths.Embassy concernedA statement by the Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi said that it was “deeply concerned about the health” of the Swiss couple. “The Embassy will continue to provide all possible support to them and their families and trusts that the Indian law enforcement agencies and judicial system will deliver justice,” the statement said.The condition of the Swiss couple who had suffered severe injuries in the attack is said to be stable. Mr. Clerc suffered a fractured skull, while Ms. Droz had a broken arm and many bruises. read more
Senior Congress and Nationalist Congress Party leaders on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the BJP government in Maharashtra and at the Centre as the combined opposition’s Morcha (protest march) drew a large crowd in Nagpur on Tuesday.The Morcha, held near the State assembly building on the second day of the ongoing Maharashtra Assembly winter session, was the culmination of Maharashtra Congress’s ‘Jan Akrosh’ rallies in various parts of the state and the NCP’s ‘Halla Bol Padyatra’ (long march) from Yavatmal to Nagpur over the State and the Central government’s alleged apathy towards Maharashtra’s farmers.The Peasants and Workers Party, the Samajwadi party and some RPI factions also participated in the Morcha.The NCP president Sharad Pawar, who participated in the Morcha despite being unwell, appealed to the farmers of the State to stop paying electric bills and other debt of the government societies. “This government has destroyed people’s lives, forcibly collected bills from us and made no efforts to help us. Take a decision today that you will not cooperate with this government at all,” Mr. Pawar told the crowd.In support of Manmohan SinghThe NCP chief also came in support of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the allegations leveled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently during the ongoing Gujarat election campaign.“No one can doubt Manmohan Singh’s integrity. Those who are making allegations against him should be ashamed of themselves. This Prime Minister [Modi] has damaged India and Maharashtra’s traditions and he mentioned Pakistan during the campaign only to avoid the anger of common people on his government. When he was the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh and I had rushed to Vidarbha to understand the farmers’ plight in the region and had declared an immediate loan waiver. But the current chief minister of Maharashtra is only talking about loan waiver since [sic] last six months,” the NCP chief pointed out.Senior Congress leader and the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mr.Gulam Nabi Azad alleged the state governments of the BJP were being used as “election machinery” for the party rather than working for the welfare of the people.Possibility of a mergerMr. Azad also expressed a possibility that the Congress and the NCP can merge in future.“The Congress and the NCP were one earlier and who knows, they can come together again. We have same ideology and thinking. The anger [of people today] is directed at the BJP because it came to power by making false promises. The BJP makes hollow promises and forgets which is why farmers are forced to kill themselves. The Prime Minister does not sit in his office. He is either in a foreign country or campaigning in elections. He has lowered the dignity of the office of prime minister by making baseless allegations against the former PM, the army chief, and others. If you go to BJP, you are called a patriot. If you are not with the BJP, you are either termed a terrorist or Pakistani,” Mr. Azad alleged.‘Man Ki Bat’ but no ‘Kam Ki Bat’Former Maharashtra CM and the state Congress president Mr. Ashok Chavan accused the BJP of being “a convincing habitual liar”. “Every section of society is facing difficulties under the BJP rule. There are only two beneficiaries of this dispensation. First is (Prime Minister) Modi and second is (Chief Minister) Fadnavis. They only do ‘Man Ki Bat’ but no ‘Kam Ki Bat’. The social media is facing restriction and media is facing pressure. There is an undeclared Emergency [in the country]. Over 1300 schools have been shut down in Maharashtra but liquor shops are still open. Maharashtra now leads in crime,” Mr.Chavan said. He also claimed that his party was going to form the government in Gujarat. The Congress general secretary in charge of Maharashtra Mr. Mohan Prakash attacked the RSS and alleged that the fight was between [Gandhi’s] white caps and [RSS’s] black caps. “They [RSS] came only till full pant from half pant in last 60 years. They implemented the GST and demonetisation to crush Indian economy under pressure from foreign countries,” the Congress leader said. Senior NCP leader Praful Patel said that there was a possibility of “change” in Gujarat which may be repeated elsewhere in 2019. read more
The Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday ruled out poisoning as the cause of death of a key CBI witness, who was privy to the assault on the father of the Unnao rape survivor.The witness Yunus died on August 18 under suspicious circumstances after which the uncle of the rape survivor alleged that he was poisoned as part of a ‘conspiracy’ by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is the prime accused in the rape case.The witness’ family, however, had maintained that Yunus died due to liver disease and alleged that the rape survivor’s uncle had tried to bribe them into seeking exhumation of the body.Also Read Unnao assault case: Witness’s viscera sent for analysis Amid a controversy, the body was sent for chemical analysis last Sunday after an autopsy failed to ascertain the cause of his death.Uttar Pradesh ADG Anand Kumar said the forensic report has been submitted to the SP. “No poison has been detected in the viscera which was sent for chemical analysis,” he added. read more
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is enjoying his time away from cricket like he usually does — with his family.Dhoni pulled out of Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament like a lot of India’s limited-overs stars in order to get ample rest ahead of the series in South Africa.With Dhoni on a vacation, he went for the annual day at his daughter Ziva’s school.Ziva is an internet darling. From her photos, videos to her wave at Virat Kohli’s reception, everything fills the social media with awe.In photo that made way to the social media, Ziva can be seen sitting in Dhoni’s lap after her first annual day function at school.After first annual day at school! pic.twitter.com/6vxkbjJ2KZ— Ziva Singh Dhoni (@ZivaSinghDhoni) January 11, 2018While Dhoni looks extremely smart in a black jacket and spiked hair, Ziva literally looks like a princess with that crown on her head.A video has also been circulating on the internet from the same function where Dhoni can be seen interacting with another kid while Ziva smiles away in his lap.pic.twitter.com/qPydznBigE— Ziva Singh Dhoni (@ZivaSinghDhoni) January 10, 2018During Christmas as well, a video had circulated on social media where Ziva was seen singing ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’ while Dhoni looked at her with all the love.The camaraderie between him and Ziva is extremely fun loving when they share ‘besan ka ladoo’ and pose for pictures together with Snapchat filters.On the cricketing front for Dhoni, he has been retained by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the franchise returns to Indian Premier League after a two-year gap, where they were banned over match-fixing allegations on the owners.advertisementALSO WATCHAlong with Dhoni, CSK have retained Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja and the fans of the franchise cannot wait to see their favourite stars in action.Suresh Raina, in an exclusive interview to India Today a couple of days ago, praised Dhoni and said how his calmness makes him great to have by the side.”Having MS Dhoni in your side is great because he is so calm. The best thing about him is he does everything very calmly,” Raina said to India Today’s Rohan Sen.Despite the adulation and success on the IPL team, Dhoni might miss out on the top central contract of the BCCI because of structural changes.With Dhoni not playing Test cricket anymore, he cannot fall into the A+ category and that might make him miss out on the top contract. read more
Continue Reading Previous IBASE unveils two AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000-based solutionsNext The future of security is in the hands of developers Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must Register or Login to post a comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Share this:TwitterFacebookLinkedInMoreRedditTumblrPinterestWhatsAppSkypePocketTelegram Tags: IoT Once confined to cloud servers with practically infinite resources, machine learning is moving into edge devices for various reasons including lower latency, reduced cost, energy efficiency, and enhanced privacy. The time needed to send data to the cloud for interpretation could be prohibitive, such as pedestrian recognition in a self-driving car. The bandwidth needed to send data to the cloud can be costly, not to mention the cost of the cloud service itself, such as speech recognition for voice commands.Energy is a trade-off between sending data back and forth to server vs. localized processing. Machine learning computations are complex and could easily drain the battery of an edge device if not executed efficiently. Edge decisions also keep the data on-device which is important for user privacy, such as sensitive emails dictated by voice on a smartphone. Audio AI is a rich example of inference at the edge; and a new type of digital signal processor (DSP) specialized for audio machine learning use-cases can enable better performance and new features at the edge of the network.Always-on voice wake is one of the earliest examples of machine learning on the edge: listening for a keyword such as “Hey Siri” or “OK Google” before waking the rest of the system to determine the next action. If this keyword detection was run on a generic application processor, it could take well over 100mW. Throughout the course of a day this would deplete the smartphone battery. Therefore, the first phones to implement this feature had algorithms ported onto a small DSP which could run at less than 5mW. Nowadays these same algorithms can run on a specialized audio and machine learning DSP in a smart microphone at less than 0.5mW.Once an edge device is enabled for always-on audio machine learning, it can do more things than speech recognition at low power: contextual awareness such as whether the device is in a crowded restaurant or busy street, ambient music recognition, ultrasonic room recognition, and even recognizing whether someone nearby is shouting or laughing. These types of features will enable new sophisticated use cases that could improve the edge device and benefit the user.Best performance and energy efficiency for machine learning inference at the edge requires extensive hardware customization, some of the most impactful techniques are collected in Table 1. Implementing these features will improve edge machine learning inference efficiency.The majority of arithmetic operations needed for neural network inference are matrix-vector multiplies. This is because machine learning models are typically represented as matrices, which get applied to new stimulants represented as vectors. The most common technique to improve edge machine learning inference is to make matrix-vector multiplication very efficient. A fused multiply followed by an accumulate (MAC) is a common way to address this. Table: Impactful techniques to create an edge AI DSP. Although the training phase is sensitive to numerical precision, the inference phase can achieve near equivalent results with low precision (e.g. 8-bits). Limiting precision can greatly reduce the complexity of the edge computation. For this reason, processor companies such as Intel and Texas Instruments have added limited precision MACs. Texas Instruments’ TMS320C6745 can execute 8 MACs of 8-bits each per cycle. Also, Knowles’ audio DSP supports 16 MACS of 8-bits each per cycle.Both the training and inference phases put pressure on the memory subsystem. Processor support for wide word widths is often improved to accommodate this. Intel’s more recent high-performance processors have AVX-512 which supports transferring 512-bits per cycle into an array of 64 multipliers. The Texas Instruments 6745 uses a 64-bit bus to increase memory bandwidth. Knowles’ advanced audio processors use a 128-bit bus striking a good balance between large chip area and high bandwidth. Furthermore, audio machine learning architectures (such as RNN or LSTM) often require feedback. This puts additional requirements on chip architecture, since data dependence can stall heavily pipelined architectures.Although traditional machine learning can work with raw data, audio machine learning algorithms typically perform spectral analysis and feature extraction to feed neural networks. Acceleration of traditional signal processing functions such as FFTs, audio filters, trigonometric functions, and logarithms are necessary for energy efficiency. Subsequent operations often utilize a variety of non-linear vector operations, such as a sigmoid, implemented as a hyperbolic tangent, or rectified linear unit (absolute value function with all negative numbers changed to zero). These sophisticated non-linear operations take many cycles on traditional processors. Single-cycle instructions for these functions also improve energy efficiency of machine learning Audio DSPs.In summary, advanced processors specialized for both machine learning and audio processing enable real-time always-on edge inference at low-cost while simultaneously maintaining privacy. Energy consumption is kept low through architectural decisions on instruction set support to allow multiple operations per cycle and wider memory buses to maintain high performance at low power. As companies continue to innovate on specialized compute at the edge, the use-cases for machine learning that utilize it will only increase. Jim Steele is vice president of technology strategy at Knowles Corp. >> This article was originally published on our sister site, EE Times: “Machine Learning on DSPs: Enabling Audio AI at the Edge.” read more
Virat Kohli and the India team management’s decision to go into the second Test in Perth against Australia with a four-man pace attack has invited criticism from former cricketers and pundits.Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar opined India are definitely missing a spinner in the bowling attack on what was seemingly a pace-rich but dry wicket at the Perth Stadium, which has taken over from WACA as Western Australia’s host of international fixtures.Gavaskar rued R Ashwin’s side strain and said the off-spinner would have been an easy choice if he were fit. Notably, India were dealt with two huge blows on the eve of the second Test as Rohit Sharma and Ashwin were ruled out with injuries.India had the luxury of playing either left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja or wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav but they decided to go in with Umesh Yadav as the extra bowler.With Hanuma Vihari, a part-time off-spinner, replacing Rohit, India went in with an all-pace attack for just the third time in the history after thePerth Test in 2008 and the Johannesburg Test of 2018.”He [Ashwin] definitely would have because I don’t think they would have included an extra bowler and gone in with a five-bowler attack. They would have included Hanuma Vihari as Rohit wasn’t fit but Ashwin definitely would have played,” Gavaskar told Sony Pictures India on Friday.”They would have had a little more variety in the attack. If the ball turns, even Jadeja can turn it. Going in with four new ball bowlers, does leave you a little lopsided. It’s like saying I will play six opening batsmen. There are specialties with every batting unit, similarly with every bowling unit,” he added.Vihari was the surprise package as he picked up two wickets after making good use of the bounce that was on offer as he helped India restrict Australia to 277 for 6 at stumps. He removed well-set batsmen Marcus Harris (70) and Shaun Marsh (45).However, Australia’s off-spinner and the only full-time spinner in the match, Nathan Lyon would be licking his lips to bowl on this wicket sometime during the second day’s play on Saturday. Notably, Lyon had picked up seven wickets in a recent Sheffield Shield match for New South Wales against Western Australia.advertisementIndia were caught up in the hype: McGrathMeanwhile, McGrath pointed out that India were fooled by the hype around the grass-rich wicket in Perth.In the lead up to the second Test, several cricketers, including captain Tim Paine and former skipper Ricky Ponting, talked up the greenish tinge that was covering the wicket.While Paine predicted the wicket was going to be “really fast”, Ponting said advantage Australia and insisted the Perth Stadium wicket would suit the hosts’ bowlers more than Jasprit Bumrah & Co.”They have got caught up in the hype and felt this pitch was going to do everything, bounce, pace, carry, seam,” McGrath told Channel Seven.Kohli will rue the absence of a specialist spinner: VaughanFormer England captain Michael Vaughan also weighed in, saying India lacked balance in the absence of a front-line spinner. He talked up Jadeja’s ability to bowl as good as Ashwin on wickets that offer bounce and his fielding skills.”I just thought at Adelaide Oval, I know it’s a different pitch, but the balance of the attack was spot on,” Vaughan told Fox Cricket.”The three quicks are outstanding and I do think over the course of the next few days Virat (Kohli) will be looking over his shoulder and thinking ‘why didn’t I play a specialist spinner?’.”Jadeja is quality as well, so I would have gone with a spinner. Jadeja has also got that buzz of energy. He’s a firecracker in the field, bowls his left-arm spin … he’s very similar to Ravi actually, a very similar kind of bowler.”Also Read | Virat Kohli’s stunning one-handed catch is a sight to beholdAlso Read | Hardik Pandya determined to stay in shape for Boxing Day Test vs AustraliaAlso See: read more
Virat Kohli and his men gave the Indian cricket fans a perfect New Year’s gift as they retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after beating Australia by 137 runs in Melbourne, eventually taking an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series.The Indian dressing room at the Melbourne Cricket Ground witnessed celebratory scenes after the India pacers knocked off the last two Australian wickets with ease on Sunday. Captain Kohli was brimming with joy even as he led his team for a victory lap at the MCG in front of a considerable amount of Indian fans.As it turns out, the celebratory mood continued to the team hotel wherein an army of India fans turned up to give a hero’s welcome to their superstar cricketers.The Dholak beats and the Bhangra dance that dominated the MCG stands over the last five days continued at the entrance of the team hotel in Melbourne.Virat Kohli, as usual, acknowledged the support and even shook a leg to the tunes of the Indian fans at the venue as he was making his way from the team bus to the hotel.Rohit Sharma, who scored an unbeaten half-century in the first innings, was also seen celebrating with the fans while head coach Ravi Shastri was spotted with a beer bottle in hand on his way to the hotel.#AUSvIND A little dance from @imVkohli as The Bharat Army give #TeamIndia a special welcome back to the team hotel. #BharatArmy #TeamIndia #IndianCricketTeam #COTI pic.twitter.com/wEHElXDy9HadvertisementThe Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) December 30, 2018India have been fortunate to have strong crowd support over the last few weeks, Down Under. Kohli came up with a heartwarming gesture at the MCG when he apparently gifted a set of pads to a young Indian fan in the crowd.Thank you to all the fans for the Love and support! A special win at The MCG. Next stop – SCG ???? #TeamIndia #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/HR4FnnGEbABCCI (@BCCI) December 30, 2018India made a remarkable comeback in Melbourne after losing the Perth Test by 146 runs. While India some questionable team selection calls in the second Test, it is safe to say the team management got it right for the third Test.Off-spinner Ravindra Jadeja gave the in-form India pacers the much-needed breather by holding up one end. Jasprit Bumrah walked away with the Man of the Match award for his match figures of 9 for 86.Speaking to India Today earlier in the day, World Cup-winning off-spinner Harbhajan Singh gave Kohli and the team management 10 on 10 for getting their tactics right in Melbourne.”It [criticism] doesn’t bother either him [Kohli] or the team management. Everybody have their own opinions to say and judge whether this should be done or that should be done. But in the end, it comes down to them [the team management]. They exactly did what they felt was right at that point of time and got the right results. 10 out of 10 for them,” Harbhajan said.Also Read | India vs Australia: Great to see India dominating with pace, says Harbhajan SinghAlso Read | Virat Kohli gives away his pads to young fan at MCG after Boxing Day Test winAlso Read | Watch: India players congratulate 7-year-old Aussie co-skipper Archie SchillerAlso See: read more
WC Qualification CONCACAF Honduras vs USA: TV channel, stream, kick-off time, odds & match preview Oli Platt Last updated 2 years ago 02:47 9/5/17 FacebookTwitterRedditcopy Comments(0) Getty Images WC Qualification CONCACAF United States Honduras v United States Honduras World Cup The Americans could find themselves in serious trouble in World Cup qualifying if they do not at least avoid defeat in San Pedro Sula on Tuesday The pressure will be on the United States when they visit Honduras on Tuesday for a vital World Cup qualifier.Having lost to Costa Rica at home on Friday, Bruce Arena’s team are ahead of the Hondurans only on goal difference in the race for the third automatic qualification berth.Panama, a point behind, are also in the hunt and another slip-up could be hugely damaging if the USA wish to avoid an intercontinental play-off or even being knocked out entirely. Article continues below Editors’ Picks Brazil, beware! Messi and Argentina out for revenge after Copa controversy Best player in MLS? Zlatan wasn’t even the best player in LA! ‘I’m getting better’ – Can Man Utd flop Fred save his Old Trafford career? Why Barcelona god Messi will never be worshipped in the same way in Argentina Game Honduras vs USA Date Tuesday, Sept. 5 Time 17:36 ET / 15:36 local TV CHANNEL & LIVE STREAM In the US, the match will be available to watch live on television in English on beIN Sports and in Spanish on Universo.It can also be streamed online via beIN Sports Connect and fuboTV. US TV channel Online stream beIN Sports / Universo beIN Sports Connect / fuboTV The match will not be available to watch in the UK on television or via online stream.SQUADS & TEAM NEWS Position Honduras players Goalkeepers L. Lopez, Canales, Escober Defenders Crisanto, M. Figueroa, H. Figueroa, Izaguirre, Sanchez, Leveron, Palacios Midfielders Discua, Mejia, A. Lopez, Garcia, Morazan, Claros, Pena Forwards Lanza, Lozano, Hernandez, Quioto, Costly, Elis Emilio Izaguirre was sent off for Honduras against Trinidad & Tobago, so Maynor Figueroa may have to slide over from centre-back to the left-hand side.Having come off the bench after Izaguirre’s dismissal, Johnny Palacios is most likely to fill in alongside Henry Figueroa in the centre.Potential starting XI: L. Lopez; Crisanto, H. Figueroa, Palacios, M. Figueroa; Mejia, A. Lopez, Claros; Elis, Lozano, Quioto. Position USA players Goalkeepers Guzan, Howard, Rimando Defenders Beasley, Besler, Cameron, Gonzalez, Hedges, Lichaj, Ream, Villafana, Zusi Midfielders Acosta, Arriola, Bedoya, Bradley, Johnson, McCarty, Nagbe, Pulisic, Roldan Forwards Dempsey, Wondolowski, Wood, Morris Jozy Altidore is unavailable for the United States after picking up a yellow card against Costa Rica that resulted in a suspension His withdrawal from the lineup is unlikely to be the only change Arena makes on the back of the poor performance in New Jersey, with Matt Besler, Clint Dempsey and Alejandro Bedoya among the experienced heads in contention to come in.Potential starting XI: Howard; Zusi, Cameron, Besler, Villafana; Pulisic, Bedoya, Bradley, Nagbe; Dempsey, Wood.BETTING & MATCH ODDS The Americans are 5/4 favourites to win, according to dabblebet, with Honduras priced at 21/10 and the draw available at 2/1.Click here to view dabblebet’s full selection of match markets. GAME PREVIEW When the USA beat Honduras 6-0 in Bruce Arena’s first World Cup qualifying match since replacing Jurgen Klinsmann, the Americans appeared to be back in the saddle and in safe hands.But since then Arena has led his team to only one win out of four in these matches – at home against bottom-of-the-table Trinidad & Tobago – and a not-entirely-convincing triumph at the Gold Cup has only papered over the cracks.Sure, a draw in Mexico is a good result in isolation and the same in Panama hardly disastrous.But one slip-up at home – such as the USA’s against Costa Rica last week – and all of a sudden you find yourself much shorter on points than hoped.Losing against Honduras on Tuesday would not quite be terminal as a consequence of the fact that Los Catrachos are unlikely to pick up six points out of six against Mexico and Costa Rica in October.It would, however, take the USA’s fate out of their own hands – and the sense of anxiety that currently plagues the team would only be worse when they host Panama next month. read more
MLS MLS State of the League: Garber on Columbus relocation talks, Beckham’s Miami bid and more Thomas Floyd @thomasfloyd10 Last updated 1 year ago 08:22 12/9/17 FacebookTwitterRedditcopy Comments(1) Dan Hamilton MLS Columbus Crew Videos The MLS commissioner offered updates on a variety of topics during his annual address, including the future of the beleaguered Columbus Crew franchise TORONTO — MLS commissioner Don Garber addressed the Columbus Crew’s potential relocation to Austin, Texas, during his annual State of the League address Friday, saying the “ball is in the city’s court” after the two sides arrived at a standstill.Crew owner Anthony Precourt announced in October that he is considering moving the team for the 2019 campaign unless the club is able to build a new stadium in downtown Columbus. Although Crew ownership met with Columbus officials last month, Garber said negotiations were stalled because of the city’s unwillingness to accept concurrent talks with Austin.”Like every professional sports league we never want to relocate a team,” Garber said. “Ownership remains very interested, as they have stated from the very beginning in the process, in exchanging ideas with the mayor of Columbus and with other city leaders in ways to address the challenges that have prevented the Crew from succeeding in Major League Soccer. Editors’ Picks Lyon treble & England heartbreak: The full story behind Lucy Bronze’s dramatic 2019 Liverpool v Man City is now the league’s biggest rivalry and the bitterness is growing Megan Rapinoe: Born & brilliant in the U.S.A. A Liverpool legend in the making: Behind Virgil van Dijk’s remarkable rise to world’s best player “But the mayor and city leaders have said to us they will only engage in those discussions if the club’s ownership discontinues any ongoing discussions in the city of Austin, and that’s just not possible at this point. So the ball in the city’s court.”Watch MLS live and On-Demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial)The specter of relocation has prompted a movement of support for the Crew from local fans and spectators across the league, with the campaign spearheaded on social media by the #SaveTheCrew hashtag.While Garber expressed sympathy for Crew supporters and acknowledged the club could ultimately stay in Columbus, he cited disappointing business metrics for the franchise — one of the 10 original MLS teams — when justifying the league’s support for potential relocation.”If they’re able to address some of the concerns we’ve been experiencing in that city for many years, it’s conceivable that the team could stay,” Garber said. “It’s traumatic when an owner and a league is willing is move a team. … But you need to be in a situation where you can be viable. We have new teams coming in that are deeply connecting with the community at dramatically more commercial revenue, higher fan bases, all of the measures that matter.”What we’ve been experiencing in Columbus for many years, and we’ve been somewhat quiet about this, is it’s among the lowest teams — 20 out of 22 — in every measure that matters across sports. Average ticket price, average attendance, average revenue, local television ratings, their local television deal — every aspect that is going to determine if a team is going to be viable.”Garber ‘confident’ in Beckham’s Miami teamGarber also discussed David Beckham’s long-gestating expansion bid in Miami, expressing confidence that the proposed club will find an additional local owner and clear a path to building a soccer-specific stadium.MLS tentatively announced Miami as an expansion side in 2014, with the franchise to be confirmed upon finalizing stadium plans. Although Garber offered hope in August that a formal confirmation would come “perhaps by the end of the summer,” the process was delayed by a lawsuit accusing Miami-Dade County of improperly selling land to Beckham’s group. That lawsuit was dismissed in October, however, and Garber said Friday that the appeal was denied last week.The commissioner did acknowledge that Miami — currently envisioned as the 24th MLS club, following Los Angeles FC’s introduction as team No. 23 next year — could be pushed down the line. (MLS is set to announce two expansion teams later this month from finalists Sacramento, Nashville, Cincinnati and Detroit.)But Garber believes the introduction of a South Florida-based owner should pave the road to finally getting Beckham’s Miami side on the field.”It is the most complicated in any market that we’ve experienced, at least in my 18 years,” Garber said. “We’ve been working hard on trying to find a local owner for David Beckham. I feel confident that that will come together, so I continue to say that we want Miami in the league. It’s a large market, a gateway city. There are a lot of values to us having a team down there and I’m very confident that we’ll get something done.”NYCFC, Revolution ‘will have a stadium’New York City FC and the New England Revolution have endured their own searches for a soccer-specific stadium, with Garber expressing optimism that both franchises will eventually find new homes.The Revolution continue to share oversized Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with the New England Patriots, while NYCFC had to play two home matches at alternate venues this fall because of scheduling conflicts at Yankee Stadium.”[NYCFC] is going to continue to work hard on that,” Garber said. “I think if we were going to look at this situation today, and New York City was going to come in as team 25 or 26 or 27 or 28, we would require there to be a stadium finalized at that time.”You go through a lot of trial and tribulation, but we will have a stadium and I believe we will have a stadium in Boston as well.”USA World Cup failure ‘going to be a positive’The U.S. national team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup has triggered plenty of soul-searching among high-ranking officials in the American soccer community, and Garber said Friday he thinks the setback will ultimately evolve into a positive.”I understand why people are upset,” Garber said. “I think that there’s been a lot of attempts to try to attribute blame, as if there’s one switch that you can pull and all of sudden it changes. I think this process, which has been traumatic to the system, has us all taking a step back and recognizing that we were all experiencing the momentum, we were kind of beginning to think we had cracked the code.”When you have things that set you back it allows strong people to work within, reach out outside your own insular group and try to get better so it doesn’t happen again. So after the initial challenge here, I actually think this is going to be a positive, at least on the men’s side, for U.S. Soccer and even for the league.”MLS increases targeted allocation moneyMLS on Friday announced an update to the league’s rules for targeted allocation money, which can be used to subsidize the salaries of players whose cap charge is more than the maximum of $480,625.While teams in 2018 and 2019 will again receive $1.2 million in TAM from the league, MLS will now allow clubs to spend up to $2.8 million of their own money in additional TAM — creating a further advantage for franchises willing to splash the cash.Garber, though, was quick to note the system can be adjusted if it sees small market clubs fall too far behind.”The great thing is if we find it too imbalanced we just simply change it,” Garber said. read more
New Delhi: Delhi Police arrested a private bank manager in Gurugram for his alleged involvement in several financial frauds using shell companies and other cryptocurrency scams, police said on Tuesday. “The accused Sandeep Singh Dua, who currently works as a Manager in Standard Chartered Bank in Gurugram was arrested by a team of Crime Branch Cyber Cell on Monday after he confessed to his crime during interrogation,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) AK Singla said. Also Read – Bangla Sahib Gurudwara bans use of all types of plastic items During investigation, Sandeep Singh Dua said that he was a active member of a gang of cheats and businessmen who used dummy accounts of shell companies for transactions to avoid income tax, Singla added. “Dua was working as a conduit between account holders of shell companies and cheats. Earlier, he had worked as a Manager with Axis Bank and Yes Bank in the national capital,” he added. The financial frauds came to light when one Arun Kumar, a resident of Delhi’s Ghonda filed a complaint against a gang of cheats that cheated him to the tune of over Rs 14 lakh to invest in newly launched cryptocurrency “Kashhcoin”, he said. Also Read – After eight years, businessman arrested for kidnap & murder As per RBI guidelines, “the creation, trading or usage of virtual currencies including Bitcoin as a medium for payment are not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority”. “During probe, six of Dua’s accomplices, identified as Narender, Asif Malkani, Baljeet Singh Saini, Pradeep Arora, Sunil Kumar, Puneet Mahindru and Ashok Goel have also been arrested,” he said. During investigation, it was found that accused persons orgainsed seminars in various states including Delhi to invest in their crypto currency in order to lure investors. They collected public money through several bank accounts including the accounts of Jaipuria Buildcon Pvt Ltd, the company of Ashok Goel, Sunil Kumar and Pradeep Arora. They later disclosed the name of Dua in the conspiracy,” he added. read more
CHARLOTTETOWN – New Brunswick’s premier heads to Washington on Tuesday, to meet with a senior member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, in a final push to have his province exempt from hefty duties on softwood lumber exports to the United States.It’s the second time in two months that Brian Gallant will meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to make New Brunswick’s case — ahead of a final determination expected September 7.In June, the U.S. Department of Commerce hit Canada with an additional 6.87 per cent in preliminary average anti-dumping tariffs, leaving the industry facing average duties of about 27 per cent.The decision exempts the other three Atlantic provinces, but New Brunswick — exempt from such tariffs in the past — is not.Gallant said he’ll make the case that exporting softwood lumber creates jobs in his province and lowers the cost of construction for American families.“I will argue this and other reasons why New Brunswick should continue to have the exclusion we have enjoyed since 1982,” Gallant said Sunday.Former U.S. ambassador David Wilkins, who New Brunswick hired as a special envoy on the softwood trade dispute, will also be part of the meeting.During his first meeting with Ross, in July, Gallant said he stressed the importance of the trading relationship between the Atlantic provinces and the New England states.The premier said he used the example of Twin Rivers Paper Co. to demonstrate how the two economies are intertwined.Headquartered in Maine with significant New Brunswick operations, the company operates integrated pulp and paper mills connected by pipelines crossing the St. John River. One pipeline carries pulp from Edmundston, N.B., to the paper plant, while another transports steam between facilities. Wood chips and biomass from Canadian sawmills help generate the steam used to make pulp.“They have about 1,000 employees, evenly divided between the two countries. They contribute over $200 million to the economies of Maine and New Brunswick,” Gallant said.Softwood lumber contributes more than $1.45 billion to the New Brunswick economy each year and employs more than 22,000 people.While most softwood lumber exporters in New Brunswick would be paying a combined rate of about 27 per cent, it would be about 10 per cent for J.D. Irving Ltd., which was hit with a three per cent countervailing duty in April’s preliminary ruling.Forest NB, which represents most of the forestry companies in New Brunswick, said the treatment of J.D. Irving Ltd., proves the case for all New Brunswick softwood lumber producers.Gallant’s meeting in Washington on softwood lumber comes on the heels of two days of talks on trade and the future of NAFTA with the other Eastern Canadian premiers and the governors of the New England states.The premiers said it is important to use every occasion to make their case on the importance of a strong trading relationship between Canada and the United States. read more
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The cause of a fire that burned a modular home to the ground in Grand Haven last week is currently under investigation.The Peace River Regional District’s Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Shawn Dahlen said that the Charlie Lake Fire Department was called out to the modular home in the Grand Haven area at around 8:00 p.m. last Tuesday. Dahlen said that firefighters were hampered in fighting the fire by a power line which got involved and had burned through.Dahlen said that no one was injured, and fire crews were able to get the fire under control after around three hours. Unfortunately, he said that the home was a total loss. Dahlen said that the cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, but that the fire is currently under investigation.
Mr. Ban “is encouraged by this development and intends to move expeditiously with the deployment,” according to a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York after the Secretary-General received a letter from the Sudanese Government confirming its agreement.The statement said Mr. Ban will work closely with the AU and the Government to implement the deployment, which is the second phase of a three-step plan that is supposed to culminate in a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force of approximately 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers across Darfur.He expects Sudan “to urgently provide the land and other facilities necessary for the deployment of the heavy support package, including permission to explore for water and meet all operational requirements,” the statement added.In its own statement to the press, the Security Council also welcomed the Sudanese decision, adding it would write to Mr. Ban to allow him to request funding from the General Assembly for the package.The statement, read out by Ambassador Karen Pierce of the United Kingdom, which holds the rotating Council presidency this month, added that the Sudanese Government of National Unity must now facilitate the package’s immediate deployment.Aside from the troops, police officers and civilian staff, the package includes the provision by the UN of helicopter gunships as well as logistical support to the overstretched AU mission, known as AMIS.Mr. Ban’s spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters, in response to a question, that the helicopters had been the outstanding component in the heavy support package until today’s acceptance letter from Khartoum.Today’s statements from the Council President and Mr. Ban’s spokesperson emphasized their support for current international efforts, including via UN and AU envoys, to find a political solution to the Darfur conflict.Mr. Ban’s Special Envoy for Darfur Jan Eliasson said that he and his AU counterpart, Salim Ahmed Salim, would now step up efforts to find a non-military solution, adding that the presence of a strong peacekeeping force was essential to stabilizing the region.Today Mr. Ban held talks with AU Chairman Alpha Oumar Konaré on the latest political, humanitarian and security developments in Darfur before they jointly met Council members for informal discussions.Speaking to reporters after that meeting, Mr. Ban thanked the efforts of many world leaders, including the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United States, China and South Africa, as well as Mr. Konaré and the head of the League of Arab States.“This is a very positive sign,” he said of the Sudanese acceptance letter. “The people in Darfur have suffered too much and too long.”Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Affairs Jean-Marie Guéhenno said the heavy support package “is not the robust force that Darfur needs. It’s a support package to lay the ground for a future robust force. It’s a transition to a hybrid mission – that’s how we see it.”More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million others displaced from their homes in the vast region in western Sudan since 2003, when Government forces and allied Janjaweed militias began fighting with rebel groups who had taken up arms, largely in protest at the distribution of resources.The clashes have led to the destruction of entire villages, and fears are increasing that the conflict might also engulf neighbouring eastern Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR).The UN is already providing a “light support package” to AMIS which includes police advisers, civilian staff, technical support and other resources. 16 April 2007Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council today welcomed Sudan’s announcement confirming that it accepts the entire “heavy support package” of troops, police officers, civilian staff and equipment which the United Nations will provide to the African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in the violence-wracked Darfur region. read more
The Toronto stock market tumbled on Tuesday near midday as traders ignored largely promising trade data, particularly from the United States.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 167.06 points to 12,436.19, after being closed for the Civic Holiday on Monday.The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.15 of a cent to 96.40 cents US after Statistics Canada said the trade deficit was $469 million in June, an improvement from a May deficit of $781 million, which was bigger than initially reported.Meanwhile, south of the border, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in June to its lowest level in more than 3 1/2 years. The Commerce Department says the U.S. deficit for June fell 22.4 per cent to $34.2 billion. That’s the lowest since October 2009 and down from May’s revised imbalance of $44.1 billion.On Wall Street, the Dow was down 110.32 points to 15,501.81, the Nasdaq fell 33.36 points to 3,659.60 and the S&P 500 was down 11.14 points to 1,696.In commodities, December gold pulled back $16.40 to US$1,286 an ounce, bringing the TSX gold sector down 7.7 per cent. September copper was flat at US$3.17.The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved down $1.35 to US$105.21 a barrel.BlackBerry (TSX:BB) shares were 6.7 per cent higher, up 62 cents to $9.88, after Samsung announced that BlackBerry Messenger is headed to its smartphones in Africa. The BBM service is expected to rollout across Android and Apple’s iPhones in the coming months.Stocks appear to have come off the boil in recent sessions as the run of corporate and economic news that marked the turn of the month has slowed down. With August traditionally a low-volume trading month, many analysts think stocks may drift over the coming period.The main focus in markets remains on when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to reduce its monetary stimulus. At present, the Fed is buying $85 billion worth of financial assets a month in an attempt to keep long-term borrowing rates low and inspire growth. Economists remain divided whether the Fed will start the so-called tapering in September or wait until later in the year.In earnings, Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE:TAP) (TSX:TPX.B) delivered a bigger profit in the second quarter, handily beating analyst estimates. The North American beer maker says its profit from continuing operations in the second quarter was US$276.7 million — $1.50 per share, or $1.51 with discontinued operations included. Analysts had estimated US$1.38 per share of adjusted earnings and US$1.41 of net income. Its shares were up $1.31 to $54.WestJet (TSX:WJA) says its July load factor slipped to 83.1 per cent as traffic increased 8.3 per cent and capacity grew 11.1 per cent over the month last year. Shares of the company gained 10 cents to $210.46.In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 0.6 per cent at 6,577 while Germany’s DAX slid 1.4 per cent to 8,285. The CAC-40 in France was 0.8 per cent lower at 4,019.Earlier, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 finished one per cent higher at 14,401.06 but South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.5 per cent to 1,906.62. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.3 per cent to 21,923.70, dragged down by HSBC Holdings, which plunged 5 per cent a day after the bank reported weaker-than-expected revenue for the first half of the year. read more
The Swiss-based NGO Society for Endangered Peoples welcomed the court’s decision and demanded that the notes of the man’s original asylum application be released by the Swiss migration office.The organisation added that it believed torture is still in use in Sri Lanka and said it knew of several other people who have been forced into hiding after being repatriated by Switzerland.The ECHR complainant was one of two Sri Lankans known to have been tortured after being sent back home by Switzerland in 2013. As a result, Switzerland suspended a readmission accord with Sri Lanka and tightened up on repatriations. On arrival in Colombo, the family was detained and subjected to 13 hours of questioning, the Strasbourg court heard. The man was then arrested and imprisoned, but was able to return to Switzerland two years later. Switzerland violated its commitment to protect people from torture by denying a former Tamil fighter asylum and instead sending him, and his family, back to Sri Lanka in 2013, according to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Swiss info reported.The verdict, delivered on Thursday, condemned the Swiss authorities for failing to properly consider the man’s asylum application lodged in 2009. After an unsuccessful appeal to the Federal Administrative Court he was returned to Sri Lanka along with his wife and two children. Switzerland’s actions violated article three of the European Convention on Human Rights, ruled the ECHR. It was ordered to pay the man €30,000 (CHF32,119). Last October, Switzerland signed a new accord with Sri Lanka dealing with repatriations. This followed an announcement in the summer that Swiss asylum criteria would get stricter towards Tamils as the government believed the human rights situation had improved in Sri Lanka.At the time, some 1,316 asylum applications from Sri Lankan nationals were still pending. By the middle of 2016, more than 5,000 Sri Lankans had been taken in by Switzerland, of which 3,674 had been given refugee status. A total of 1,613 had been admitted provisionally and potentially faced the threat of expulsion.Around 50,000 people from Sri Lanka live in Switzerland, mostly Tamils, who fled the island’s 30-year civil war that ended in 2009. Sri Lanka has repeatedly called on them to return, but NGOs maintain that some could still face torture if they did so. (Colombo Gazette) read more
The Elections Commission has decided to inform the returning officers of 93 Local Government (LG) bodies to call for nominations from November 27.The 93 LG bodies are not affected by a case filed in court against the delimitation gazette.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire today strongly condemned an attack on a disarmament convoy carrying its national authority head, and urged that those responsible be brought to justice. The UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) “calls on the competent Ivorian authorities to take all measures to identify the authors of the attack and bring them before the law,” according to a statement from Abidjan. A convoy of the national Authority for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) was attacked on 1 July on a stretch of road between the towns of Ferkessedougou in the north and Kong in the northwest. UNOCI said at least one person was killed and there are media reports of three other people wounded. “The Mission regrets the death of a gendarme who was part of the security escort and expresses it sympathy to the bereaved family,” UNOCI said in a statement. “It wishes a quick recovery to those injured.” Fidele Sarassoro, ADDR Director-General, was in the convoy but does not appear to have been hurt in the attack. In its statement, the Mission supported the DDR activities in the country saying that their progress is “indispensable” to the restoration of state authority and the return to normalcy in the West African country split by civil war in 2002. “UNOCI calls on all parties concerned to remain calm and undertake no action that could hamper the smooth functioning of the DDR process,” the Mission said. It added that it welcomes progress made so far and stands by the Ivorian Government in its quest to consolidate peace. UNOCI was established in 2004 by the Security Council to facilitate the peace process between the rebel-held north and Government-controlled south following the 2002 civil war. In the aftermath of the post-election violence that followed the 2010 presidential polls, the peacekeeping mission assisted with a number of key tasks, including the restoration of law and order, national reconciliation, the holding of legislative elections and economic recovery. read more
Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. He wrote: “My wife Christine and I have decided that our shows this week, in Coventry and Brighton, will go on and will be dedicated to our grandson Fidel and daughter Melanie (who asked that we still perform).”We have the best fans in the world (through the Neville Staple Band, the Specials, Fun Boy Three & Sugary Staple), so we ask that you help us turn our pain into a message.”Let’s show the young people that this knife trend has to stop! It has to STOP!!” Despite the killing he has vowed to perform this weekend and dedicate the concert to his grandson Detective Inspector Harry Harrison, from the homicide unit, said: “Sadly another young man has lost his life in a knife attack.Our thoughts are with his family at this dreadful time. “We are aware that numerous people who were at the club at the time could have witnessed what happened and I would urge them to contact us with any information no matter how insignificant it may seem Mr Staple, who was due to kick off a UK tour with his Neville Staple Band this weekend, said he would be dedicating Sunday’s Godiva Festival performance in Coventry to his grandson.He also spoke out about the devastating impact that the rising tide of knife crime was having across the country. Another man, aged 23, was found with stab injuries on Queen Victoria Road and remains in hospital. The incident took place outside Club M in CoventryCredit:SWNS Neville Staple found fame with The Specials in the 1980sCredit:Sunshine International/REX/Shutterstock West Midlands Police were dealing with an average seven knife crimes a day, official figures for the year to March 2018 showed earlier this year.There were 2,850 serious crimes recorded involving blades in the period, up from 2,394 the year previously – an increase of 19%. He said: “We are truly devastated to announce the heartbreaking loss of my grandson Fidel (my daughter Melanie’s son), who died today as a result of being attacked with a knife in the street.”We want to thank the hospital staff & surgeons at UHCW University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, who battled all day to try & save him.”My beautiful daughter Melanie & wife Christine Sugary, all the family and myself are still shocked by this tragedy, but would like to thank you all for the kindness & messages we have received.” Singer Neville Staple, who shot to fame with the Coventry-based Ska band, The Specials, has spoken of his “heartbreaking loss” after his grandson was stabbed to death in the city.Fidel, 21, who was the son of Mr Staple’s daughter Melanie, was found suffering from knife wounds at the rear of a nightclub in the early hours of Saturday morning.He was rushed to hospital in a life threatening condition but was later pronounced dead.West Midlands Police said a man had been arrested in connection with the death.Mr Staple, who also performed with the 1980s group Fun Boy Three, as well as his own band, issued a statement on Facebook in which he expressed his family’s devastation. Forensic officers are examining the area near the scene of the attackCredit:SWNS read more
I wrote this month’s leader, which will also head up our May 2019 print issue, travelling at speeds of well over 300 km/h on a Chinese high speed train between Luoyang and Changsha. The network of bullet trains that now crisscross the country on their own indicate the strength of Chinese engineering expertise and a determination to further accelerate economic development across the country.This visit was one I had wanted to do for many years and it remains a first for the mining press. I visited six different major OEM players in the mining equipment sector. First, North Hauler in Baotou, by far the Chinese leader in the supply of mining trucks, up to 300 t plus with electric drive & having just developed a fully autonomous model. Second Taiyuan Heavy in the city of Taiyuan, the leading Chinese rope shovel manufacturer under the TZ brand and including the WK-75 which remains the largest mining shovel ever built until Komatsu delivers its new 4800XPC to Teck Resources in Canada in the coming months. Third, CITIC Heavy in Luoyang, the clear leader in the supply of mining crushers, grinding mills and mine winders in China. I went on to visit XEMC in Xiangtan, another mining truck major, along with Liugong in Liuzhou and SANY in Shenyang, two construction equipment giants but with big plans in mining. I also met with XCMG during the Bauma show in Munich, another construction major but already having had significant export sales of mining units; and have corresponded with JCHX, China’s leading underground mining constructor and contractor, including contract mining and shaft sinking.So rather than just listing names, what had I learnt so far? I’d certainly learnt more about how these companies tick in a few days of spending time with them than I did in 20 years of writing about them, often relying on snippets from scant English website versions or attempting to reach out by email with mixed success. Of course in the end I have been able to make great contacts with the right people in recent years, and it is through these contacts that the visits have been made possible.First, these companies have long histories of engineering experience in China and didn’t just pop up from nowhere. Second, having seen their manufacturing facilities with my own eyes, they have the very latest machining, welding and other equipment in place. Third, they are a lot more vertically integrated in their manufacturing than Western companies, many of which now are largely assemblers of components, parts and castings sourced from third parties. Several factories I saw already employ robotic welding and other technology. Fourth, they are investing in the same types of sensors and analytics systems as Western companies to provide mining customers with the same options, from collision avoidance to payload monitoring and autonomy. Fifth, they are using external components of the same quality as those used by Western OEMs, including Cummins or MTU engines, GE or Siemens electric drives, Parker and Bosch hydraulics, Allison tranmissions, SKF bearings, the list goes on. Sixth, they are not as tied to the Chinese state as people think, if anything they receive no special help from the Chinese government at all. A good example is the recent trade war with President Trump’s US administration. China recently responded to US tariffs by imposing tariffs of its own on US imports into China, hugely increasing certain component costs for Chinese OEMs. Chinese regulations relating to emissions and the environment have also been getting much tighter within only a few years – Western OEMs had far more time to adjust to this type of legislation.In the export market these companies also face significant barriers. Several referred to the “Chinese factor” where they come up across bias against Chinese equipment and services in an already conservative mining industry, due to widely circulating stories of poor quality machines based on old style engineering or simply copies of Western machines. Or a belief that Chinese groups provide zero follow up service and maintenance. The reality is that the majority of the companies I visited have already become certified suppliers with mining majors, including the likes of BHP, Codelco, Rio Tinto, Glencore and Anglo American. This has come about after many, many visits by mining company delegations to their facilities in China to check manufacturing quality and capability. The fact that these certifications have been achieved at all is testament to the quality levels that have been reached. A brief look at Alibaba and other trading websites shows that there remain many lower tier Chinese mining equipment suppliers trying to “make it” but if anything they are copying the premium Chinese players not just the Western imports.It is true that service is an area that has been lacking to date in some parts of the world. But where these players have made significant sales abroad, they are also catching up in provision of service through new facilities, permanent service engineers in place and parts warehouses in countries like Australia, South Africa and Chile.With new mines increasingly owned or at least funded by Chinese investment and being built by Chinese EPC contractors, there is no getting away from the fact that the premium Chinese OEMs will grow in stature in the global market in the coming years as the market picks up. And as I have tried to do, isn’t it better to get to know them and develop good relationships sooner rather than later? read more
The marketing surrounding Bungie’s forthcoming multi-platform game Destiny is moving up a gear this week. Yesterday the box art was revealed, which you can see in full below. And now, Amazon is listing the game for pre-order with the promise of access to the beta.The offer is a simple but effective one. Pre-order Destiny on Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, or Xbox One through Amazon, and in return you are guaranteed access to the beta for the FPS. That beta will go live at some point early in 2014 and will be available across all formats, so it doesn’t matter which version you pre-order.Surprisingly, Amazon will be handling sending out the beta access codes rather than Bungie or publisher Activision directly. You will receive yours within one business day of placing your pre-order. Also, this is a limited time offer. At some point there will be more pre-orders than beta places available, so if you want in, pre-order as soon as possible.Some players have been lucky enough to gain access to very early builds of the game already. Back in March Bungie put the call out for beta testers around the world to help test the game. I expect the beta will open up to those who pre-order the game around the same time in March next year.We’re also meant to be getting a new trailer for the game this week, but until that arrives here’s the 12 minutes of gameplay footage Bungie released back in July. read more