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It holds monthly sessions at both Colchester General Hospital and Springfield, Chelmsford. |
The sessions are for women between the ages of 18 and 90 with all forms of cancer. |
There are 63 volunteers working across the county, applying make-up and offering skin care tips. |
Debbie Blackwell, charity co-ordnator, said: “By teaching them that everyday they can use make-up to redraw their eyebrows and use eye liner to make eye lashes, it gives them a mental lift. |
“When they look in the mirror, they no longer see the cancer, but how they should look. |
To book a Colchester appointment, contact Karen Reeves on 01206 744408. |
Former Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) minister and MPA Ziaullah Afridi on Monday confirmed he was joining the PPP, DawnNews reported. |
Afridi, who previously served as the provincial minister for mines and minerals, announced the move following a meeting with PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari at Zardari House in Islamabad. |
PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi and PPP provincial president Humayun Khan were also present at the meeting. |
Earlier this month, Afridi levelled allegations of corruption against KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and KP finance minister Muzafar Said and announced that he would soon stage a sit-in outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) offices in the provincial capital to force the anti-corruption body into ac... |
Afridi had also criticised PTI’s chief Imran Khan and Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq for not taking action against the CM and finance minister over the illegal appointment of the Bank of Khyber’s managing director. |
The former minister said he had secured ‘solid’ evidence of the corrupt practices of the KP ruling parties and would soon make them public through media. |
Afridi had also said that CM had established the KPEC just to victimise his political rivals. |
In October 2016, Afridi was released on bail after having spent 15 months in prison. |
He had been arrested by the KPEC on the charges of misusing authority and allowing illegal mining in various areas of the province. |
While he was in detention, the PTI had suspended Afridi's basic party membership. |
Reflects on the type of people who joined PTI in the first place. PTI !! How do you feel now? |
Isn't that the MPA who the NAB arrested right after PTI made NAB independent in KP. It show that the corrupt cannot survive in PTI but flurishes in other parties! |
Irrespective of the fact he is with PTI or PPP, why he is free after doing corruption on such a large scale? Why PTI and JI government did not follow-up his cases seriously? It will raise certain questions like if some deal was reached between him and PTI/JI government. |
To protest PTI corruption he joins the party that is more corrupt. |
He must have been paid well by PPP to enjoy rest of his life which made his mind changed. PPP has large looted money budget to buy people - nothing hidden. |
@OmarFL eventually this person has gone to where he belongs. |
What sort of people are ruling us? |
He spent 15 months in prison!. And PPP has no problems accepting him?. How wonderful. I guess his leaving PTI and joining PPP has improved quality of people in both parties!. Think about it. |
A chance must be given to him to verify what he claims regarding the irregularities done by the CM and others. That's what justice demands. |
All parties in the country are the same, equally good or equally bad ! Should any one agree with this statement, let him forward it to all his friends. |
@Adil Jadoon But you are echoing my point. PTI's screening and evaluation process is flawed. PTI only gets support due to IK's tag and a few credible names. Majority are all the same. There is nothing phenomenally different about PTI. |
I will say however, that what PTI has done in KP is credible. It is not sellable for votes, but it is far more valuable. Unfortunately in our country, only motorway's and Lahore beautification sell. |
Zardari sahib, why do u have to take tainted PTI walk in your party" It is a great pity. |
Mr Afridi is at right place now with Mr Zardari. By the way what has KPK government done to prove their allegations against Mr Afridi. |
On Monday, the New York Police Department agreed to a revised class action settlement that it hopes will put to rest litigation surrounding the Department’s surveillance of Muslims. |
On October 28th, a federal judge in New York rejected a proposed settlement to the ongoing litigation concerning the New York City Police Department’s surveillance of Muslim communities in and around the city. This post examines the case and the NYPD Inspector General's role in it. |
If Superintendent Mark Rendell opts against resigning, chairwoman Laura Zorc said the board could terminate his contract without cause. |
Editor's note: This story has been changed from its original version. |
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — School Board Chairwoman Laura Zorc has asked for Schools Superintendent Mark Rendell to resign, saying she is concerned he plans to leave the district, and without enough time to replace him. |
If Rendell opts against resigning, Zorc said the board could terminate his contract without cause. She recommended the board begin a superintendent search as soon as possible. |
The search could begin as early as next week. A special meeting is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. April 2 to discuss a search timeline. |
Over the past few weeks, Rendell has notified the board he has hired legal counsel regarding his employment contract. On Monday, he told board members he is seeking employment elsewhere, which he is contractually obligated to do. |
Rendell declined to comment Tuesday about his plans or where he was applying. |
"I just think we need to be proactive now and start the search now," Zorc said. "We cannot risk sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the superintendent to transition to a new position." |
By starting the search now, the board will have time to find qualified applicants. Zorc said she wants to have a new superintendent in place by the start of the new school year. |
Rendell’s contract requires him to give 30 days notice if he leaves. Board members said that is not enough time to find a replacement and do not want to be without a superintendent as the district heads into budget season. |
"The idea we could be left without both a superintendent and a chief financial officer, as we head into budget season, as we are a new board, is mind-boggling," said board member Mara Schiff. |
In recent months, Rendell's contract and evaluation has been discussed at School Board workshops, particularly by Jacqueline Rosario, who was elected in November with Teri Barenborg and Schiff. Board members also have expressed concerns about the district finances and the status of the district reserve fund. |
Rendell's contract expires in July 2020. Board members evaluate him every July, at which time they can opt to extend the contract an additional year. Zorc said she hoped Rendell would stay until the end of the contract. |
Board member Tiffany Justice opposed discussions about firing the superintendent, suggesting the board begin contract negotiations with Rendell for a new contract through 2021. |
"Perhaps we need to give him job security," she said. |
Hoping to strengthen its position in the disaster recovery (DR) market, Hewlett-Packard Co. today announced a global business-recovery network that positions the company as a one-stop DR solution. |
The HP Business Recovery Services supports a variety of customer services such as off-site data backups, data vaulting and data mirroring. The network also will be leveraged to conventional hot-site customers who maintain a dedicated telecommunications line to the HP recovery centers for rehearsals and actual DR. |
The North American segment of the HP business-recovery network uses asynchronous transfer mode and frame relay technology to provide 28 point of presence (POP) locations throughout major metropolitan areas of the United States and Canada. The company expects 38 POPs in 37 metropolitan areas by May. HP monitors and mana... |
DR is a subscriber service that allows customers access, in the event of a natural or man-made disaster, to a fully functional alternative computer facility or to a computer system shipped to a location of their choice. Services also include the provision of alternative office facilities complete with desks, PCs and ca... |
The winners of the company's Zillow Prize AI contest created an algorithm that's 13 percent more accurate than Zillow's current model. |
Online real estate database Zillow this week announced the winners of Zillow Prize, the company's $1 million competition to improve the accuracy of the Zestimate home estimator. Introduced in 2006, the Zestimate is an algorithm that today estimates the market value of roughly 110 million homes in the US. While Zillow h... |
The goal with the AI competition -- which was hosted on Google's Kaggle platform -- was to find new machine learning techniques and statistical models that would help reduce the Zestimate's current 4.5 percent margin of error. |
According to Zillow, the winning team -- Team ChaNJestimate -- created an algorithm that's 13 percent more accurate than Zillow's current model. The team utilized deep neural networks to directly estimate home values and remove outlier data points that fed into their algorithm. |
They also leveraged external variables that factor into a home's estimated value, like data on rental rates, commute times, and home prices, along with contextual information such as road noise, to bolster the model's precision. |
Zillow said its team of data scientists is already incorporating the winning team's algorithm into the Zestimate model, as well as other AI approaches introduced by top Zillow Prize competitors. Zillow is hoping that future Zestimates will be be about $1,300 closer to the sale price thanks to the improved models. |
Beyond improving the Zestimate, Zillow said the competition also points to how tech companies are leaning on new approaches to gain AI knowledge in a competitive market. Instead of relying solely on its internal data science team, the competition let Zillow tap into a larger and more diverse talent pool with equally be... |
"Zillow Prize is a perfect example of the innovative ideas and new approaches to problems that come from crowdsourcing within a community of thousands of diverse, talented data scientists," said Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief analytics officer and creator of the Zestimate. "The machine learning expertise and imaginativ... |
PPC shareholders dig in their heels arguing that the cement group is better as a standalone business. |
The proposed merger between SA’s largest cement producer PPC and its unlisted rival AfriSam might be scuppered for the second time as several shareholders have come out voicing their concerns against it. |
Shareholders believe that the deal, which has the backing of Canada’s investment holding firm Fairfax Africa Investments, undermines PPC’s potential for future growth in SA and the rest of Africa. |
Prudential Investment Managers, Value Capital Partners and Visio Capital Management are opposing the merger. |
Prudential, which has a 14% shareholding, has expressed its concerns to the management of PPC and AfriSam, arguing that it sees more value in PPC being a standalone business. |
Chris Wood, Prudential’s head of equity, said PPC has made significant investments in new and more efficient productive capacity in SA and the rest of Africa including Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, which have the potential to double the company’s earnings and share price over the next... |
“We see the potential for PPC ordinary shares to be worth in excess of R12/share within the next three years,” said Wood. |
PPC shares were R6.37/share at the time of writing. |
PPC raised R4 billion last year through a rights offer to help deleverage its balance sheet, reducing debt from R9.2 billion to R5.7 billion as of March 2017. |
Activist investment firm Value Capital Partners supported Prudential’s views in its opposition to the merger. |
The firm, which owns 5% of PPC, has put an intrinsic value of at least R10 to PPC shares based on its balance sheet after the rights issue and presence across Africa. On the latter, Value Capital Partners CEO Sam Sithole, said PPC will generate nearly 50% of its profits from the rest of Africa in the next two to three ... |
Prudential’s house view is that the merger would benefit AfriSam more than PPC. “AfriSam needs to be recapitalised and the current shareholders of AfriSam appear unwilling to inject further capital,” said Wood. |
AfriSam received bailouts from several shareholders in 2012 after facing a smothering R15 billion debt load. At the time, AfriSam’s recapitalisation included the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) investing R9.3 billion, Phembani injecting an undisclosed amount that scored it a 30% stake and Holcim Switzerland writing... |
PPC shareholders have been largely in the dark about AfriSam’s debt and cash generation position since the merger was initially touted in February. |
Visio Capital Management, which has a 7% stake in PPC, said a successful merger would distract PPC’s management from boosting operational efficiencies. It’s also concerned about the hurdles that the merger could face in getting the approval of competition authorities – a process that could take over 12 months. |
“Visio wishes for PPC to walk away from this deal, to stop wasting valuable management time and company resources towards an uncertain and very likely messy outcome and to instead focus on its own operations and deal with its own challenges,” it said. |
A bidding war has since ensued, with Fairfax and Nigeria-based Dangote Cement offering to tie-up with PPC to cement the AfriSam deal. On Friday, Dangote walked away from a potential takeover of PPC, leaving Fairfax as the sole known bidder. Fairfax has backed PPC in its bid for AfriSam, offering to acquire PPC shares w... |
However, the Fairfax offer won’t likely pass muster with shareholders. |
Three shareholders holding more than 25% of PPC have opposed the merger, said PPC chairman Peter Nelson. This is a massive snag as the deal requires 75% of shareholder support for it to be successful. “We have not polled shareholders but there are a number of shareholders who have indicated their concerns,” Nelson told... |
Shareholders have also taken umbrage with Fairfax’s R5.75/share, which is based on PPC’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of R2 billion for the year to March 2017. |
The PIC, the largest shareholder of PPC holding a 15.17% stake, is said to be supporting the Fairfax-backed offer according to a Bloomberg report. However, SA’s largest money manager has denied this. |
“The PIC has not been approached by the PPC board with any proposed offer for PPC shares. We will be in a position to express a view after we have been approached with a proposal and have studied the terms thereof,” said Deon Botha, the PIC’s head of corporate affairs. |
The PIC also holds a majority stake of about 60% in AfriSam. Shareholders have questioned whose interest will the PIC serve with the merger given its shareholding in both PPC and AfriSam. |
THE Division 2 maintenance schedule has been updated with new server downtime for today, ending with the launch of update 2.1. |
Ubisoft Massive has confirmed The Division 2 maintenance for today, April 16. |
This will include downtime, which is set to last for several hours and shut down most gaming features. |
Ubisoft has revealed that maintenance is scheduled to last around three hours and will begin 8:30am, BST. |
The dev team has also announced that today’s server downtime will be followed by the release of a new update on PS4, Xbox One and PC. |
“Greetings Agents, The servers will shut down for a scheduled maintenance Tuesday, April 16th at 09:30 AM CEST / 03:30 AM EDT / 12:30 AM PDT. Estimated downtime is approximately 3 hours. |
Patch 2.1 will be launched during the April 16 maintenance period and is aiming to fix a number of bugs. |
And while the patch notes aren’t a laundry list of fixes, some of them will certainly prove popular among the fanbase. |
One major issue with the Crafting Bench upgrade blueprint not being granted to players moving from one World Tier to another is being removed today. |
While this will be a welcome fix, some fans are disappointed that today’s update will not include some of the other notable problems causing major issues. |
One of the worst is not being able to interact with various objects found in the world that are integral to the game. |
This includes players not being able to pass through server-side controlled doors such as those with Safe Houses, Settlements and the Base of Operations. |
Ubisoft has acknowledged this issue and told fans recently: “We have received reports from players that have been unable to leave certain areas (such as a settlement or safehouse) as they cannot open the doors, or interact with objects, such as loot caches or rappel lines. |
But looking at today patch notes, it doesn’t look like there will be a fix released for this problem with update 2.1. |
Fixed an issue where the Gila Guard brand gear could not be donated to the Campus Daily Project “Brand Request: Gila Guard”. |
At least the New York Post inspired some agreement between Republicans and Democrats. |
Remember Tuesday, when the Post wrote a purported "news" story about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's trip to Israel and just decided to go ahead and throw in a bunch of fat jokes in it? |
Christie said Wednesday that the story, which came with the package headline, "The whale at the wall: Christie weighs in at Israel holy site," did not bother him. And hey, it even inspired a rival state Senator to come to Christie's defense. |
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