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Video posted on Facebook shows a woman caught in the middle of a flash mob in King George Square. Next thing her boyfriend appears. Then he gets down on one knee and asks for her hand in marriage.
The Courier Mail reports the proposal was four months of planning by 29-year-old Highgate Hill resident Sam Maccoll.
With the help of a Gold Coast dance troupe, musicians, balloon artist and secretive friends and family, the proposal was a great success.
And his now fiance, Nicole Morrow, who was on a weekend trip to Brisbane for a manicure said: "We'd talked about getting engaged before and he started planning a special holiday for next month, so I thought maybe he was going to ask me then. So I was so surprised by all this."
Organizers of this year's Prism Project are hosting the fourth annual fish fry fundraiser to benefit the event.
MUNCIE, Ind. — Organizers of this year's Prism Project are hosting the fourth annual fish fry fundraiser to benefit the event.
The fundraiser will take place 5-7:30 p.m. March 29 at the Knights of Columbus, 3600 W. Purdue Ave. Fish will be by Dan's Fish Fry. Dinner includes all-you-can-eat fish with fries, coleslaw, dessert and drinks.
Adult tickets are $10, while tickets for students in kindergarten through college are $8. Tickets are available in advance or at the door the night of the event. For more information visit www.prismprojectbsu.org.
Last year, the project was able to raise funds to support the addition of a visual arts component with which the kids have weekly hands-on experience with different mediums of art, according to a release. This year the program aims to raise money to continue the support of a visual arts element.
Prism Project is a program that provides children with special needs the opportunity to develop social skills through performing arts and direct engagement with peers. The program also serves as a training ground for Ball State University students who wish to work with children who have exceptionalities, according to a...
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK - Get Report) beat analysts' expectations for fourth-quarter sales and earnings Wednesday but warned of a significant hit this year from anticipated generic competition to its Advair asthma treatment.
The drugmaker reported sales of £7.5 billion ($9.3 billion) in the three months ending in December, up 21% on the year before, and beating the Factset consensus for £7.48 billion. Earnings per share were 26.1 pence, an increase of 45%, and a beat against the consensus for EPS of 24 pence.
"2016 has seen GSK perform strongly with good sales growth across all three businesses, excellent new product momentum, disciplined cost control and further pipeline progress," said CEO Andrew Witty.
The company said that in 2017, earnings could face a considerable hit due to the anticipated introduction of generic rivals to Glaxo's Advair asthma treatment in the U.S.
Glaxo shares were marked 1.6% lower at 1,536 pence each in London following the release, taking them to a three-month loss of nearly 3%.
Mylan (MYL - Get Report) , Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HKMPY and Vectura (VEGPF all have generics pending approval with the FDA, while Mylan could get the go-ahead to market its own as soon as March.
"Clearly, this year we face some uncertainty as to the level of our earnings performance, given the possibility of substitutable generic competition to Advair in the U.S., and this is reflected in the guidance we have issued today," added Witty.
Glaxo's anticipates earnings per share growth of between 5% and 7% in the event that no generic competition to Advair makes it to market during 2017. However, if Mylan or any other outfit gains approval in time for a mid-year launch, then the group has warned that it could finish the year with earnings per share having...
For Glaxo, 2016 was a year of mixed blessings. It benefited greatly from the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union, given the subsequent devaluation of sterling which has since boosted earnings.
But it has been challenged by a growing line of competitors all threatening to encroach on its blockbuster asthma treatment. Returns for the shares were also tempered by the election of Donald Trump to the U.S presidency. Trump fought his campaign and entered the White House on a pledge to take a tough stance against d...
The California governor has set a referendum on teacher dismissals.
By scheduling a special election for Nov. 8, California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is challenging one of teachers' most cherished rights: tenure.
To those who toil in the classroom, tenure has always meant job security and greater professional freedom. To critics, it can encourage a dangerous complacency and make firing ineffectual teachers prohibitively time-consuming and expensive. Now, a test of this long-cherished but controversial idea will be played out in...
Supporters of the proposal contend that toughening the probationary period puts children first, instead of protecting unions that have proved a mighty deterrent to school reform. Opponents, including the California Teachers Association (CTA), say the measure is punitive, that it only hurts young teachers and stymies wo...
It is a battle being watched closely across the nation, as educators, policymakers, and politicians experiment with corporate models for US classrooms. From tenure to merit pay for teachers, the question of accountability is being debated in state legislatures, governors' offices, and on the airwaves. And many say the ...
"Whenever you have a governor taking a stand on an issue like this, antithetical to the union approach, I think it's going to set a precedent," says Gaynor McCown, executive director of The Teaching Commission, a New York-based group that has supported Governor Schwarzenegger's measures. "California is a union state," ...
Every state has some process for teacher review, historically intended to protect educators from political whims or patronage. Not all states opt to use the controversial word "tenure," which is often misunderstood as a guarantee of teaching jobs for life. Some states have been experimenting with term contracts. And th...
For Lynn Pigott, California's possible move in that direction is the right one. The former middle school principal dealt with two ineffectual teachers assigned to her school after parents got them transferred out of the local elementary school. She says that tenure laws made removing them prohibitively expensive and ti...
While the battle is generally painted as political - with Democrats supporting teachers and their unions and Republicans supporting a more corporate structure in the schools, lines are not so neatly drawn. Sen. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts, for example, came out against teacher tenure in the late 1990s. Experts say ...
This month the CTA approved a $60 fee increase per teacher to raise $50 million to fight the governor's initiatives. CTA president Barbara Kerr says other states are watching both the tenure debate and the more hotly contested issue of school financing. That means a rare flurry of out-of-state contributions, though she...
Not everyone is opening their pocketbooks happily, though. John Kenney, a high school physics teacher in San Andreas who backs the governor's initiatives, signed a letter to the CTA in opposition to fee hikes. He says he believes many more teachers would come forward in opposition, but are cowed by the dominant culture...
"The CTA is such a powerful union in the state," says Mr. Kenney. "Teachers are brainwashed to think that without tenure, they'd be doomed. That's not true."
Yet many say the debate - while important - misses a larger point. They say the effectiveness of probation periods ending at two years instead of five has not been sufficiently studied, and is a small piece of the accountability equation.
For Mr. Hirsch, talk of tenure or merit pay is premature until clear measures are in place for teacher evaluation. Some states have made strides toward such procedures, but he says most have a long way to go. "In most states a principal is looking at a classroom one or two times [a year] for twenty minutes - and making...
Are state tenure laws unconstitutional?
Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) is bringing science fiction to life, launching two demonstration projects to create and test a carbon-free, power-to-gas system for the first time ever in the U.S.
The technology converts electricity into gaseous energy and could provide North America with a large-scale, cost-effective solution for storing excess energy produced from renewable sources.
Using electrolyzer-based methods, the power-to-gas concept uses electricity from renewable sources, such as solar and wind power, to make carbon-free hydrogen gas by breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen can then be converted to synthetic, renewable methane — traditional natural gas — and stored to...
Commercial-scale power-to-gas systems are already used in Germany and are being explored globally as a means to convert and store increasing levels of wind and solar power during times of excess supply. Such a commercial system could enable natural gas utilities across North America to use their existing pipeline infra...
“A power-to-gas system can help California meet environmentally-focused energy goals and solve a major energy challenge facing our nation: how to cost-effectively store excess power from renewables to meet energy demands when the wind does not blow or the sun does not shine,” said Patrick Lee, senior vice president, cu...
While much attention has been focused on developing batteries to store excess energy, battery capabilities are still limited to short-term storage and batteries remain expensive.
Power-to-gas offers longer term storage capacity and cost-effective use of existing natural gas infrastructure to potentially create the world’s largest storage technology. In addition, power-to-gas storage conserves the significant amount of energy currently wasted when renewable production exceeds consumption.
Located at the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine and the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, the power-to-gas demonstrations will assess the feasibility and potential benefits of using the natural gas pipeline system to store photovoltai...
SoCalGas’ power-to-gas project is expected to provide valuable data on the dynamics of hydrogen production in a system flush with renewable electricity. Initial project results are expected by year-end.
MARK COLVIN: There's fury in a number of Australian cities and regions at the loss of local TV news services after Southern Cross Broadcasting decided to close several key regional television newsrooms.
Southern Cross owned bulletins have gone from Townsville, Cairns, Alice Springs, Darwin and Canberra, and viewers there are left with little or no choice in their viewing. The Australian Broadcasting Authority [ABA] says diversity of information is vital to people's participation in democracy. The ABA today announced i...
ABA CHAIRMAN - DAVID FLINT: There is a provision in the Broadcasting Services Act that all of the broadcasters, all of the commercial television broadcasters in a region, contribute towards the provision of an adequate and comprehensive range of broadcasting services there.
This, to us, must mean local news and local information such as current affairs. To play their roles as citizens, to be properly informed citizens in their rural areas, in their regional areas, they need to know about local government, they need to know about the administration, the provision of services such as hospit...
So, we want to know what's happening. We want to find out how concerned people are by this. We want to try and work out how realistic it would be to impose any obligations on service providers.
ANNIE WHITE: Is there a risk that this is a little bit like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted, though? I mean once these news rooms shut down around the country it makes it very difficult to reinstigate [sic] them, doesn't it?
DAVID FLINT: There's always that possibility with anything that you do. It's very hard to anticipate some things and to an extent this is an anticipation in that we're wondering how far this is going to go and whether it will affect other areas throughout the country.
Of course were we to decide to impose additional obligations on licensees then the gate would be reopened.
ANNIE WHITE: So is your feeling at this stage that Southern Cross has breached their obligations under the Act?
DAVID FLINT: No, we certainly haven't made any conclusive finding, or even an interim finding, on these matters. We want to find out what the facts are and in particular we want to find out whether the obligation - which is a collective obligation on all broadcasters in each license area - whether there is an adequate ...
ANNIE WHITE: Is that spelt out though? I mean, is it clear to those commercial operations that news and current affairs are part of that local obligation?
DAVID FLINT: Certainly it's clear that there is a collective obligation. The problem with a collective obligation - and this is in the 1992 legislation - the problem with that is to what extent does each independent commercial operator have to contribute towards the fulfilment of what is a collective obligation?
ANNIE WHITE: Are there any penalties for breaching that obligation?
DAVID FLINT: Well, the difficulty with penalties with a breach of a condition is that the ultimate sanction is of course the loss of a license and nobody's even thinking of that. We're not looking at penalties, we're not even sure that there has in fact been a collective breach of that condition. What we want to find o...
MARK COLVIN: Professor David Flint, chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, with Annie White.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy S9 are $300 off today if you buy them at Samsung for Verizon. This is a massive deal and the only real catch is that you need to pay for the phones on a Verizon Payment Plan. If you trade in a newish phone the price drops to $399 for a savings of $600.
Both phones work on Verizon and you still go directly to Verizon for service and support. Samsun also has a host of other deals that you can use to save on the Note 9 and S9.
You can read our Galaxy Note 9 review to learn what we love and hate about the Note 9, and be sure to check out our reasons to wait for the Galaxy S10 if you are thinking about the S9.
The Note 9 is already on sale, so if you do this offer, trade in and use the Verizon Payment plan, you can get the Note 9 for $399.
In addition to the deals above, you can save with a wide range of Samsung deals directly at Samsung starting today and running through December 3rd.
If you are in need of cases and accessories, check out the best Galaxy Note 9 cases and the best Galaxy S9 cases to get started.
Spigen's Liquid Air Armor is one of my favorite cases from the company and is quickly becoming more popular than the Spigen Rugged Armor case. With the Liquid Air Armor, you're getting an extremely rugged and durable case that's also very thin. Two things that usually don't go together.
The Spigen Liquid Air Armor is made entirely from a slim form-fitting TPU material that's shock and drop resistant. They add a geometric pattern on the back to improve your grip, and to cut down on visible fingerprints. Two important things for Note 9 users.
Most cases from Spigen (like this one) use an "air cushion" technology that puts little gaps in the corners of the case. This prevents damage from drops or accidents and gives them a military-grade rating against life's daily hazards. This is an awesome and affordable case.
They could build the first of multiple middle power coalitions for regional resilience in Trump’s world.
Rory Medcalf is head of National Security College, Australian National University, Canberra.
Donald Trump sent a tremor through one of America’s most solid alliances last week in his leaked phone call with the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. He reportedly got angry at one of his country’s most loyal allies and cut short the conversation before it could move to major issues such as fighting ISIS.
The friction was over whether America would honour the Obama administration’s parting promise to Canberra to take 1,250 refugees left in limbo by Australian border control policies. In a tweet, President Trump attacked this “dumb deal”, implying he might change his mind and reject it.
The larger question matters to all of America’s security partners, including India. It is about strategy and geopolitics in a confusing new era — and whether US allies and partners can continue to trust the commitments of Washington or the confidentiality of their top-level discussions.
The Australia story feeds into a wider narrative which includes America’s abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade agreement that was meant to be the economic foundation of Washington’s renewed security engagement with Asia. The episode is a reminder that many nations in the Indo-Pacific are struggling t...
How does America cope with the ever-rising power of China? Should Washington confront Beijing or cut deals with it?
Or might the US simply abandon Asia to the mercies of Chinese primacy? What does Asia do as America oscillates between these multiple options?
The solution is not to assume that America has suddenly lost sight of its deep strategic equities in the Indo-Pacific, or that every country is better off imagining China as a core of regional and global stability. Substantial powers of many sizes, including India, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Vietnam and ...
A multi-polar great game was already afoot across our two-ocean region well before the Trump presidency.
Along with Prime Minister Modi’s India, Shinzo Abe’s Japan has been quietly effective in constructing new partnerships of security, economic and political cooperation to ensure their countries can together shape the regional order and not simply accept the results of US-China competition, collision or collusion.
It was telling that perhaps the most momentous meeting globally on the day Donald Trump was elected last November was a long and outcomes-rich conversation between Modi and Abe. It marked the convergence of India’s Act East vision and Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy. But the geometry to buttress India’s reg...
Australia has long been another leader in building a more robust regional security architecture. Popular notions of the scale of its ties with China — its largest trading partner — overlook the concerns with which successive Australian governments have seen Chinese power and the diversification of Australia’s regional ...
Alongside solid economic and people-to-people links, Australia-India security ties have intensified, including with an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Bay of Bengal last year. Meanwhile, the Tokyo-Canberra relationship is bouncing back.
Last month, Abe and Turnbull pre-empted the Trump factor with a meeting that led to a joint statement noting the synergies in their Indo-Pacific strategies and identifying India as a key third partner. After all, one of the most promising new strategic dialogues in recent years has been the annual trilateral among the ...
Of course, Delhi, Tokyo and Canberra are not the only middle powers (or middle players, if you prefer). But they are the three best positioned to demonstrate the value of the new triangular approach to Indo-Pacific diplomacy. They could build the first of multiple middle power coalitions for promoting regional resilien...
Their mutual self-help could span many priority areas, to firm up the multi-polar context with which Chinese power will have to come to terms.
These include security dialogues, intelligence exchanges, sharing of maritime surveillance data, capacity-building of military or civilian maritime forces in smaller countries in Southeast Asia or the Indian Ocean, technology sharing, agenda-setting in regional forums like the East Asia Summit and coordinated diplomati...
This is not about constructing an Asia without America. Nor can it seek to contain China. This is about finding ways to limit regional instability amidst the shifting dynamic between America and China.
To be sure, the new coalitions like India, Japan and Australia will still lack sufficient weight to balance China on their own. But in developing an agency of its own and taking a larger share of the burden of Asian security, the India-Japan-Australia coalition will send strong messages to both China and America.
Delhi, Tokyo and Canberra want Beijing to know that it can’t simply disregard the political and security interests of its Asian neighbours in either pushing America out of the region or negotiating a new regional sphere of influence for itself. While America’s allies and partners want the US to stay strong in the regio...
Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has expressed shock at the death of a 14-year-old Grade 7 pupil who was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil at Mpeko Primary School in the Eastern Cape.
Committee Chairperson Nomalungelo Gina expressed the committee's condolences to the family and friends of the pupil as well as to the school community.
"This is indeed a very sad occasion. This young person was robbed of his life at the start of the school year. Instead of looking forward to the academic year, his future is now over," she said.
The alleged perpetrator is a 17-year-old pupil.
"Our hearts bleed for both families. Their lives will now be changed forever. We want to appeal to the South African population at large to assist our young people to learn the correct skills to deal with conflict as violence is clearly not the solution," said Gina.
Luxury crossovers and SUVs from BMW , Land Rover, Volvo, Lexus will take center stage at the Geneva International Motor Show, Europe's most significant auto show, which opens to the press March 5.
BMW's new X4 aims to put a sporty spin on the compact luxury SUV. Like the more formal X3 that went on sale last year, it's based on BMW's new Cluster Architecture and expected to be lighter and roomer than the current X4. The top model is expected to be a 360-hp M40i with a six-cylinder engine.
Land Rover looks to raise the price ceiling for luxury SUVs with the limited edition Range Rover SV coupe, which has two doors and an opulent interior. Land Rover will build just 999 SVs to mark the Range rover's 70th anniversary.
Audi may launch the Q8 large SUV that will become the brand's global flagship. In addition to being a homonym for an oil-rich state, the Q8 is expected to showcase Audi's latest technologies.
Lexus's SUV family grows to five vehicles with the UX, which promises to be smaller and less polarizing than the compact NX. The UX is based on the TNGA architecture that underpins a wide range of vehicles for Toyota Motor Co. The lineup is likely to include a hybrid.
Volvo's new Polestar brand of electric luxury-performance vehicles will reveal details — possibly including U.S. prices — on its first vehicle, the fast and efficient Polestar1 coupe.

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