Thursday, May 10, 2018

Are you really too busy to be mindful? - Telegraph

Are you really too busy to be mindful?
 'Not only are the benefits of mindfulness obvious, the approach is also easy to learn'
'Not only are the benefits of mindfulness obvious, the approach is also easy to learn'

 Linda Blair
10 MAY 2018 • 11:00AM
We often think our lives are too busy to be mindful – but there are good reasons why you should make time.

Since the early 1980s, when Jon Kabat-Zinn demonstrated its relieving properties for patients who endure severe chronic pain, mindfulness – a discipline that helps you achieve intentional, non-judgmental awareness of the present moment – has been applied in a vast range of settings.

Mark Williams and colleagues at Cambridge taught patients suffering from recurring bouts of depression to use MBCT (short for “Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression”), and found their chance of relapse was significantly reduced.

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Paul Grossman at the Freiburg Institute for Mindfulness Research reviewed the literature and concluded that mindfulness can help relieve symptoms across a wide range of health problems, both mental and physiological.

Sarah Bowen at the University of Washington used mindfulness to help prevent relapse in adults recovering from substance abuse. It has also been shown to help parents with autistic children cope more adaptively with their child’s challenging behaviour.

Even Martin Seligman, who, in his latest book The Hope Circuit, argues that the key to happiness is all about having an optimistic view of the future, rather than focusing on the present, would have to accept that it’s impossible to be realistically optimistic about what lies ahead until you first take a calm, non-judgmental look at what’s happening right now.

Not only are the benefits of mindfulness obvious, the approach is also easy to learn. There will almost certainly be a mindfulness course on offer near your home or workplace. In the rare circumstances where this isn’t the case, there’s always Mark Williams and Danny Penman’s excellent book, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World; or my own, The Key to Calm.

It’s much better instead to think of mindfulness as a way of being; a way of doing what you already do
Why, then do so many of us believe it’s difficult to find time to be mindful? The reason is that too many practitioners teach it as a separate entity, as something you need to set aside special times to practice, an additional activity you have to fit into your already packed day. Most people, quite rightly, find this off-putting.

It’s much better instead to think of mindfulness as a way of being; a way of doing what you already do, but with focus and curious, open-minded, non-judgmental awareness. You can make that happen simply by starting each day feeling calm and balanced.

As soon as you wake, sit up in bed and begin by taking breath in through your nose slowly and evenly. Hold it for as long as you comfortably can, then exhale slowly and evenly through your nose. Do 10 of these mindful breaths, concentrating fully on your breathing throughout.

This will only take two minutes. Yet by starting your day like this, later on you’ll find it easy to become aware whenever negative thoughts or anxious feelings start to sabotage your inner calm. You can then rebalance by taking another 10 mindful breaths.

Once mindful breathing becomes an ingrained habit, you can use it anytime and anywhere. Then you really can live the life you want – only better.

Linda Blair is a clinical psychologist and author of Siblings: How to Handle Rivalry and Create Lifelong Loving Bonds. To order for £10.99, call 0844 871 1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk

3 things Trump can do now to lower drug prices - CBS News

May 10, 2018, 5:15 AM
3 things Trump can do now to lower drug prices

Consumers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurers, middlemen, Wall Street analysts and others are waiting for and wondering about President Donald Trump's twice-postponed speech focusing on lowering prescription drug prices. It's now scheduled for Friday.

While much as been said about what the president may or may not propose -- on-script or off -- here's a look a three ways the government could help lower the cost of prescriptions, even in the face of opposition from various interested parties.

Direct government negotiation for Medicare-covered drugs
Insurers and pharmacy benefit managers routinely negotiate with drugmakers for big discounts on list prices. But the government, by law, cannot enter into such negotiations, even though Medicare Part D is a huge payer for all types of medicines.

That law didn't stop then-candidate Trump from pushing for government negotiations when he was on the campaign trail, when he said doing so could save some $300 billion a year. 

Now it's a different story. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, a former drug company executive, and Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, are against direct government negotiation. They argue that robust negotiations are already taking place between the private insurers that provide Medicare Part D coverage and pharmaceutical companies.


It would be better, their thinking goes, to create an environment of more competition with more drugmakers providing alternative drugs so true price competition can exist, explained Ian Spatz, former pharmaceutical industry lobbyist and senior adviser at Manatt Health. 

"There's no guarantee that direct government negotiation would lead to lower prices," said Spatz. "The government may not get the prices right. If it prices too low, there's no incentive to create new drugs we still need. And as we've seen in other areas of the government, prices could be set too high."

Nonetheless, Mr. Trump is expected to embrace incremental changes in government drug price intervention. For instance, the administration may be willing to negotiate Medicare prices for costly physician-administered drugs such as many expensive cancer drugs that doctors now purchase direct from wholesalers. And you may see some government intervention on extreme cases of price increases for common drugs such as various forms of insulin, said Spatz.

Import cheaper drugs from Canada
This is yet another point Mr. Trump made on the campaign trail, saying consumers should be allowed to buy less expensive drugs from Canada and other countries. But that has changed dramatically. Administration officials and health care experts have balked at this idea, citing safety concerns. They say it isn't always known where drugs imported from Canada came from originally and if they're authentic.

Nonetheless, the idea resonates with several states, including Utah, Oklahoma, Vermont and West Virginia, all of which have begun legislative efforts to allow the importation of less expensive Canadian drugs, which is currently illegal. Individual states would be responsible for making sure the drugs are safe and that patients are saving money.

In recent weeks the Trump administration has called out several trading partners that regulate drug prices, including many European countries, saying they're not paying their fair share for U.S. drug company innovation and are therefore increasing the cost of drugs in the U.S. This stance is adding to global trade tensions.

On the other side of the coin, some experts are pushing the idea of more open drug trade. One proposal: The FDA should allow foreign makers qualified to sell generic drugs in Canada, England, France and other countries to sell generics in the U.S. too.

Offer discounts directly to consumers
Earlier this year, Aetna (AET) and United Health (UNH) announced they would pass discounts they receive from drugmakers directly to some consumers. Pharmaceutical companies often offer rebates to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to ensure their drugs are included in coverage. Traditionally, insurers have not passed these savings to consumers, instead claiming they use them to stabilize premiums. Along these same lines, President Trump announced he would like to see drug company rebates passed directly to seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D coverage.

The details of the Aetna and Humana announcements aren't yet clear, including how many consumers would be affected and how much they would save. But allowing consumers to gain more from industry discounts may be an important step in overall savings.

Pompeo's 13 hours in North Korea - CNN Politics

Pompeo's 13 hours in North Korea

By Nicole Gaouette, CNN

Updated 0349 GMT (1149 HKT) May 10, 2018
Trump: 'Honored' by release of US prisoners

Trump: 'Honored' by release of US prisoners 00:45
Washington (CNN)The modified Boeing 757 had taken off from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington late Monday night, bound for North Korea, when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to the back of the plane.

He was headed to Pyongyang, he told the only two reporters allowed on the trip, to nail down the agenda that President Donald Trump and Korean leader Kim Jong Un would tackle when they convene for their historic summit. Pompeo didn't know exactly who he'd meet, he said.
But he added that he would raise the issue of three Americans detained in North Korea, cautioning that he had no commitment for their release.
I hope North Korea "will do the right thing," he said. "We've been asking for the release of these detainees for 17 months," he added. "We'll talk about it again. It'd be a great gesture if they'd agree to do so."
Over the next day and a half of long meetings, red wine toasts and negotiations in the isolated North Korean capital, the newly minted secretary of state would score the most dramatic foreign-policy victory of the Trump administration, securing the release of the three men and bringing them back to American soil.
Trump: Pompeo en route to North Korea

This account is based on pool reports by the reporters from The Associated Press and The Washington Post who accompanied Pompeo and were able to observe and report on events as they unfolded.
While the administration had been signaling the release of the prisoners for days beforehand, the trip had been a closely held secret until Trump announced during remarks from the White House Diplomatic Room on Tuesday that he'd dispatched his top diplomat.
Pompeo traveled with a small team that included Brian Hook, the State Department's head of policy planning; Matt Pottinger of the National Security Council; Lisa Kenna of the executive secretariat; and Heather Nauert, the State Department's acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs.
Pompeo's jet, a C-32A known as the "Big Plane," lifted off from Andrews at about 9:30 p.m. on Monday, then refueled at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, before taking off again for Japan.
It was nearly 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Washington -- almost 24 hours after Pompeo had left Andrews -- when the former CIA director landed in Pyongyang.
Displays of power
On the tarmac, Pompeo was greeted by several officials, including the vice chairman of the Party Central Committee, Kim Yong Chol, the official in charge of relations between North and South Korea, and Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is shakes hands by senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol, director of the United Front Department, which is responsible for North-South Korea affairs, upon his arrival to Pyongyang.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is shakes hands by senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol, director of the United Front Department, which is responsible for North-South Korea affairs, upon his arrival to Pyongyang.
Pompeo stepped into a black Mercedes limousine, and his team and the reporters piled into a bus and Chevrolet vans for the 23-kilometer ride -- a little over 14 miles -- to the capital city.
The American motorcade passed farmland, housing blocks and morning commuters, most of whom were walking or biking on a paved path on the side of the road. Matt Lee of The Associated Press, who had covered then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's trip to North Korea during the Clinton administration's attempt to negotiate with the isolated regime, noted that the city had been considerably built up since that visit in 2000.
The motorcade's winding route took the Americans past the city's largest and most prominent displays of power, including a library and research center famous for its huge statues of former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and various monuments celebrating the glory of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, including Pyongyang's own version of Paris' Arc de Triomphe.
Their destination was the Koryo Hotel, the main lodging for foreigners, where portions of Albright's delegation had stayed 18 years ago.
Trump: 'Everyone thinks' I deserve Nobel Prize

Trump: 'Everyone thinks' I deserve Nobel Prize
Once they arrived, Pompeo met for about an hour with Kim Yong Chol, discussing the Trump-Kim summit and Pompeo's schedule, before Kim hosted a luncheon on the hotel's 39th floor, where he formally welcomed the Americans.
Over a table arrayed with dishes of poached fish and duck served with red wine, Kim raised the possibility of better relations and offered some pointed political remarks.
"You have visited Pyongyang at such a good time, at such a warm and lovely spring, and a good atmosphere has been established between North and South, so everything is going well in Pyongyang now," the North Korean official said.
Kim then told the Americans that "we have perfected our nuclear capability," adding that "this is not the result of sanctions that have been imposed from outside."
"It is our policy to concentrate all efforts into economic progress in country," Kim said before making an appeal laced with flattery.
"I hope the United States also will be happy with our success," he said. "I have high expectations the US will play a very big role in establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula."
'For decades, we have been adversaries'
He then toasted Pompeo, who stood and returned the salutation. The group with him, Pompeo said, was "equally committed to working with you to achieve exactly" that: peace on the peninsula.
"For decades, we have been adversaries," the top US diplomat continued. He said he hoped "that we can work together to resolve this conflict, take away threats to the world and make your country have all the opportunities your people so richly deserve."
"There are many challenges along the way," Pompeo allowed. "But you have been a great partner in working to make sure our two leaders will have a summit that is successful."
Not long afterward, Pompeo was given about an hour's notice that he would be granted an audience with Kim Jong Un. They met that afternoon for about 90 minutes to discuss plans for the summit.
A photo from the North Korean government, shows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
A photo from the North Korean government, shows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The reporters were not allowed to attend, but on Pompeo's return to the hotel, they asked whether there was good news about the detainees.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, attends a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from left, at the Workers' Party of Korea headquarters in Pyongyang, North Korea.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, attends a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from left, at the Workers' Party of Korea headquarters in Pyongyang, North Korea.
The Americans, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, had been held in North Korea for at least a year.
Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song were arrested in April and May of 2017, accused of carrying out "hostile acts" against the regime. Both worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, which bills itself as the only privately run university in the North Korean capital.
Kim Dong Chul had been in North Korean custody since before Trump was elected, arrested in 2015 and accused of spying for South Korea.
Why these Americans were held in North Korea

Why these Americans were held in North Korea 01:37
Pompeo responded to the reporters' question wordlessly, simply crossing his fingers.
Soon after his audience with the North Korean leader, though, an official arrived at the Koryo Hotel with news: Kim Jong Un was releasing the Americans.
"We're granting amnesty to the three detained Americans," the North Korean emissary told Pompeo, according to a US official. "We issued the order to grant immediate amnesty to the detainees."
"That's great," Pompeo replied.
Pompeo and Kim shake hands.
Pompeo and Kim shake hands.
'This was a hard decision'
"It should be a very brief ceremony," the North Korean said, noting that the "ceremony" was more like a legal process. "You should make care that they do not make the same mistakes again," the North Korean said in closing, according to the US official. "This was a hard decision."
The detainees would be released that night at 7 local time, Pompeo was told.
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Carl Risch, accompanied by a doctor, went to another hotel to get the men. At 7:45 p.m. in Pyongyang -- 6:45 a.m. in Washington -- Risch, the doctor and the detainees walked out of the hotel and headed to Pyongyang International Airport.
Forty minutes later, the detainees and their escorts arrived at the airport, where they met with the secretary and his team and boarded Pompeo's plane. The three detainees walked without assistance from the van that had brought them from custody, and were seated with medical personnel in the middle section of the plane, which had been curtained off.
At 8:42 p.m. local time, just under an hour after the detainees were released from the hotel, Pompeo's C-32A lifted off from the North Korean runway bound for the US military's Yokota Air Base in Japan.
Pompeo, flush from the victory, came to the back of the plane to speak to the reporters. "It was a long day. It was a long day," he said as they flew back to Japan. "But there were no moments where I felt like we were going to be anything but successful in the day."
'A long day... but worth the time'
He noted that there were "no glitches, but we were on the -- what, 13 hours maybe on the ground, something like that from start to finish? So a long day. A long day for our counterparts, the North Korean team, as well. But worth the time and effort, and I think very productive."
Having the three Americans on the plane, he said, was "incredibly exciting." The men seemed to be in good health, Pompeo told the reporters: "All indications are at this point that their health is as good as could be given that they've been held."
Pompeo wouldn't share what the detainees' first words to him were. "I just want to respect their privacy," he said. But he confessed that when they noted they had left North Korean airspace, "we were all thrilled when we knew we were outside of that space."
The secretary told the reporters that once they were in Japan, they'd be met by another plane with "even more robust medical capabilities" in the event the detainees needed it. "Hopefully in the next couple of hours a more complete readout of their complete conditions," Pompeo said.
Pompeo returns to N. Korea to plan summit

Pompeo returns to N. Korea to plan summit 02:31
He touched briefly on his conversation with Kim Jong Un about preparing for the summit, saying it had been "good and lengthy." The White House would soon announce the date, time and location, he said.
"That part is behind us for sure, and we had a chance to talk substantively about what we intend to be on the agenda, and also how we're going to begin to coordinate in the days ahead. ... Both sides are confident that we will set the conditions for a successful meeting between the two leaders," Pompeo said.
He said he felt that Kim "is trying to set good conditions for the summit."
Shortly before Pompeo and his team landed in Japan, at 8:30 a.m. in Washington, Trump jubilantly tweeted that the secretary "is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting."
At Yokota Air Base in Japan, the detainees were transferred to a separate, waiting plane, and both planes took off for the 10-hour flight to Anchorage, where they would refuel. Many on Pompeo's plane, exhausted, were already asleep before it took off.
The prisoners' plane touched down in Anchorage at 1:21 p.m. local time Wednesday and took off within the hour, with an arrival time at Andrews set for the wee hours of Thursday morning. On the plane to Yokota, Pompeo told the reporters that Trump was planning to be at Andrews Air Force Base to meet the detainees when they arrived.
One of the reporters asked Pompeo if there had been a moment when he gave himself "a little pat on the back" for securing the Americans' release.
"Still have work to do," Pompeo answered. "I'm thrilled that we have them back. I'm happy that actually President Trump set the conditions for this to happen, and I'm thrilled with that. But there's still a lot of work to do to achieve our ultimate goal."
CNN's Zachary Cohen contributed to this article.

Eurovision 2018: How does the voting system work? - Independent

Eurovision 2018: How does the voting system work?
Revised Song Contest scoring no longer permits competing nations to troll one another with brutal 'nil points' judgements

Joe Sommerlad @JoeSommerlad 9 hours ago0 comments

Broadcast live from Lisbon's Altice Arena on Saturday 12 May, the Grand Final will see Britain's SuRie taking on competitors from 42 rival countries in the annual spectacular.

A fixture of the British TV calendar, Eurovision is celebrated every spring with boozy house parties around the nation as friends and families gather to laugh at the preposterous costumes and crimes against hearing being cheerily enacted on the big stage.

When is Eurovision on TV this year and who is representing Britain?
With the show just a month away, you might want to brush up on the voting system, which was radically revised in 2016.

Each participating country has a professional jury whose job it is to rank its top 10 performances, awarding points of 12, 10, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one to its next favourites in descending order.

These scores will be revealed during the final by each nation's spokespeople as usual, at which point a second round of votes from members of the public watching live at home will be cast.

These in turn will establish a parallel top 10 on the same basis.

The two sets of scores will then be added together to give a final set of results from that country.

Finally, these are added to the overall league table, meaning the final winner will not be revealed until the very end of the show when all 43 competing countries have submitted their scores, ensuring the tension remains high until the very last moment.

The maximum score a performer could therefore receive, if all 42 judging countries were to award them a 12 from both professional and public votes, would be 1008.

Those keen to rake over the ashes afterwards in pursuit of the answer to where it all went wrong will be able to examine an extensive breakdown of the results on the contest's official website Eurovision.tv.

The revisions brought in in 2016 mean the spectacle of a country awarding "nil points" to a rival - Eurovision's signature diss - has been eradicated, a soothing thought for patriotic British viewers already bracing themselves for disappointment.

Prime Minister Najib Razak defeated as opposition claims victory in Malaysia - CNN News

Prime Minister Najib Razak defeated as opposition claims victory in Malaysia
By Marc Lourdes, CNN

Updated 0316 GMT (1116 HKT) May 10, 2018
Stunning comeback for Malaysia's ex-leader

Stunning comeback for Malaysia's ex-leader 02:12
Marc Lourdes is a former Asia director of CNN Digital now based in Kuala Lumpur. Follow him on Twitter at @marclourdes.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN)Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has suffered a stunning election loss to former leader Mahathir Mohamad, who at 92 is set to become the world's oldest leader.

Scandal-plagued Najib, 64, was thrashed at the polls by a coalition of parties led by Mahathir, who led the country for 22 years and came out of retirement to challenge Najib in the country's 14th general election.
The defeat is a humiliating fall from grace for Najib, the scion of one of Malaysia's most prominent political families, and his coalition party, Barisan Nasional, which had led the country since its independence 61 years ago.
Supporters of Mahathir Mohamad, cheer as they watch live televised result announcement of the 14th general elections on May 10, 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Supporters of Mahathir Mohamad, cheer as they watch live televised result announcement of the 14th general elections on May 10, 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
With all 222 seats in the country's Parliament accounted for, Mahathir's coalition had officially won 121 seats -- enough to form a simple majority and take control of the House. Barisan Nasional, in contrast, only had 79 seats -- a far cry from the 133 it won in the 2013 election.
The bloodbath did not end there -- Najib also saw several members of his Cabinet, ministers and deputy ministers, defeated at the polls, and crashed out of eight of the battles for control of 12 state legislatures contested in the election.
According to a statement by the country's Election Commission, over 76% of the 14.3 million eligible voters in the country turned out to cast their ballots, which opened at 8 a.m. local time and went on until 5 p.m. The turnout was lower than the 85% the country saw in 2013.
While the defeat surely spells the end of Najib's political career, for Mahathir, it represents the culmination of a stunning return to power, a decade-and-a-half after retirement.
Voters cast their ballots at a polling station during Malaysia's 14th general election on Wednesday. The country's Prime Minister Najib Razak suffered a stunning defeat at the polls.
Voters cast their ballots at a polling station during Malaysia's 14th general election on Wednesday. The country's Prime Minister Najib Razak suffered a stunning defeat at the polls.
Remarkable victory
Mahathir's victory is all the more remarkable considering he is 92 years old, and was fighting the very party he led for over two decades.
Bridget Welsh, a John Cabot University expert on Malaysian politics, said Barisan Nasional could have won the elections had it not been for Najib.
"Najib is a liability. His narcissism cost them the elections," she said, of a Barisan Nasional campaign that featured Najib and his election promises as a centrepiece.
Welsh added Najib's re-election campaign never really took off.
"He used racial politics and money, like he did in 2013, but it did not have the same traction.
"This was a Malaysian tsunami across races, generations and background."
Former Malaysian prime minister and opposition candidate Mahathir Mohamad (center) celebrates with his coalition leaders during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on early May 10, 2018.
Former Malaysian prime minister and opposition candidate Mahathir Mohamad (center) celebrates with his coalition leaders during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on early May 10, 2018.
James Chin, the director at the Asia Institute in the University of Tasmania, said Najib had "finally run out of tricks" and said Mahathir had pulled off a masterstroke in snatching the rural vote away from Najib.
He compared the campaign speeches given by the two men on Tuesday night, hours before voting began. "Najib was still playing the bribery game -- you give me your vote, I give you this or that. Mahathir, on the other hand, came across as a statesman and appealed to Malay dignity," he said.
Chin called out two things that helped turn the tide against Najib -- a high voter turnout and the swing in rural support.
"Even if the rural voters didn't understand 1MDB, they understood that some monkey business was happening. And so the Najib brand became toxic," he said.
Supporters of former Malaysian prime minister and opposition candidate Mahathir Mohamad celebrate in Kuala Lumpur on early May 10, 2018.
Supporters of former Malaysian prime minister and opposition candidate Mahathir Mohamad celebrate in Kuala Lumpur on early May 10, 2018.
Comeback for Anwar?
One of the twists of the election came in the form of Mahathir's embrace of Anwar Ibrahim, his former deputy and later political foe, whom he once jailed on sodomy and corruption charges critics said were politically motivated.
Anwar remains imprisoned after being found guilty of sodomy a second time in 2015 -- a charge he has also said is politically motivated. He's expected to be released in June, after serving the bulk of the sentence.
Prior to the election Mahathir pledged he would step aside for Anwar, after securing him a royal pardon. Mahathir has pledged only to serve two years before handing over to his former rival.
Calling it an "unprecedented" alliance in Malaysian politics, Welsh told CNN before the election the two former political enemies had "not only a strategic (alliance) but one based on an idea of statesmanship, of moving the country in a different direction.
"It speaks a lot to the character of both Mahathir and Anwar that they can come together," she said.
"I don't think it's been easy for either of them. For Mahathir he's had to face some of the things he's done, and to apologize. For Anwar, it's to go along with someone who's created a lot of harm to his family."
A contentious election
Najib had been under massive pressure in the run up to the elections, chiefly due to long-running allegations of corruption and misappropriation of money from a state fund, known as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, but also because of deeply unpopular moves such as the introduction of a goods and services tax (GST), which many Malaysians feel has caused the cost of living to spike sharply.
The elections have been contentious. Najib came under fire from opposition parties and civil society groups for a redrawing of electoral lines that skewed constituencies heavily in favor of his ruling coalition, towards the rural ethnic Malay-Muslim voters that have traditionally formed Barisan Nasional's power base, and away from the urban voters that have largely abandoned his coalition.
Malaysia election: Opposition leader Mahathir facing fake news charge
Malaysia election: Opposition leader Mahathir facing fake news charge
Najib also rammed through a bill in Parliament, days before it was dissolved and elections were called, that was ostensibly targeted at curbing the spread of fake news, but which critics said was aimed at stifling free speech and dissenting voices. Mahathir has become one of the first people to be investigated under the law.
There was also deep unhappiness at the fact that the elections were held on a weekday -- only the fifth time in the country's history such a thing has happened, and the first time in the country's history it was held in midweek. Many believed that the choice to have it on a weekday was a deliberate attempt to suppress the number of votes cast.
The country's Election Commission also came under significant fire, with overseas voters furious about the length of time it took them to get their postal voting ballots. Malaysians in London staged a protest earlier this week excoriating the commission for the late arrival of their ballot papers.
A voter wearing shorts and flip-flops fills out a ballot at a polling station in the Desa Petaling area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday. Some voters were turned away by officials citing dress restrictions -- despite assurances that would not happen.
A voter wearing shorts and flip-flops fills out a ballot at a polling station in the Desa Petaling area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday. Some voters were turned away by officials citing dress restrictions -- despite assurances that would not happen.
Election day controversies
Polling day came with its own share of controversies. Voters in some areas were turned away by election officials for wearing shorts and flip-flops, despite a statement from the Electoral Commission's chairman the day before that there wouldn't be a dress code for voters.
There were also allegations of discrepancies in voting papers, with some voters who turned up to cast their ballots told that they had already voted.
Earlier in the day, opposition politicians claimed their phones and email accounts had been hacked and spammed, saying it was a deliberate attempt to disrupt their communications.
Vote counting by officials went on into the morning, with final results still pending. Najib and Prime Minister-elect Mahathir are expected to address the nation early Thursday. And for the rest of the country, the party has already begun -- May 10 and May 11 have already been declared public holidays in celebration of one of the most remarkable moments in Malaysia's modern history.


The secret of the Leaning Tower of Pisa: Study finds unique mix of soil helped it stay upright during four earthquakes - Daily Mail

May 10, 2018

The secret of the Leaning Tower of Pisa: Study finds unique mix of soil helped it stay upright during four earthquakes
 58-metre tall tower leans precariously at a five-degree angle
This leads to an offset at the top of over five metres
Survived at least four strong earthquakes that have hit the region since 1280
By Mark Prigg For Dailymail.com

PUBLISHED: 03:29 AEST, 10 May 2018 | UPDATED: 03:44 AEST, 10 May 2018

The mystery of how the Leaning Tower of Pisa stays intact has long baffled scientists.

Despite leaning precariously at a five-degree angle, leading to an offset at the top of over five metres, the 58-metre tall tower has managed to survive, undamaged, at least four strong earthquakes that have hit the region since 1280.

Now, researchers they believe they have the answer - soil.

Despite leaning precariously at a five-degree angle, leading to an offset at the top of over five metres, the 58-metre tall Tower has managed to survive, undamaged, at least four strong earthquakes that have hit the region since 1280. +3
Despite leaning precariously at a five-degree angle, leading to an offset at the top of over five metres, the 58-metre tall Tower has managed to survive, undamaged, at least four strong earthquakes that have hit the region since 1280.

The research team concluded that the survival of the Tower can be attributed to a phenomenon known as dynamic soil-structure interaction (DSSI).

 'Ironically, the very same soil that caused the leaning instability and brought the Tower to the verge of collapse, can be credited for helping it survive these seismic events,' said Professor Mylonakis, of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Bristol, who led the study. 

The research team concluded that the survival of the Tower can be attributed to a phenomenon known as dynamic soil-structure interaction (DSSI). +3
The research team concluded that the survival of the Tower can be attributed to a phenomenon known as dynamic soil-structure interaction (DSSI).

The team say the considerable height and stiffness of the Tower combined with the softness of the foundation soil, causes the vibrational characteristics of the structure to be modified substantially, in such a way that the Tower does not resonate with earthquake ground motion.

This, they say, has been the key to its survival.

The unique combination of these characteristics gives the Tower of Pisa the world record in DSSI effects.

Professor Mylonakis, from Bristol's Department of Civil Engineering, was invited to join a 16-member research team, led by Professor Camillo Nuti at Roma Tre University, to explore this Leaning Tower of Pisa mystery that has puzzled engineers for many years.

Given the vulnerability of the structure, which barely manages to stand vertically, it was expected to sustain serious damage or even collapse because of moderate seismic activity.

THE BATTLE TO PRESERVE THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA
In 1987 the Tower of Pisa was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nation's cultural organisation Unesco, but as fears grew that it would topple over it was closed to the public in 1990 and engineers worked to stabilise it for the next 11 years.

'The tower was on the verge of collapse, but we managed to stop the tilt and secure it,' said Giuseppe Bentivoglio, from the Opera Primaziale organisation that preserves the tower.

The tower was reopened to the public in 2001 and remained open throughout a restoration costing almost £6million - partly to keep tourists happy, but partly because the revenue from ticket sales helped pay for the upkeep. The tower attracts over one million visitors a year.

In 2010 restorers made the tower even more stable by removing soil from beneath one side of its foundations. Its angle was previously 5.5 degrees from the perpendicular, but is now only 3.99 degrees off straight.

Experts say the seven-storey bell tower should now be safe from further intervention for at least the next 200 years.

But how did the tower achieve its lean? The most respected theory suggests the tower began to sink after construction - which began in 1173 - had progressed to the third floor after five years.

The cause was a flawed design - it had a foundation that was only three-metres deep set in weak, unstable subsoil.

Landmark: In 1987 the Tower of Pisa was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nation's cultural organisation Unesco, but as fears grew that it would topple over it was closed to the public in 1990 +3
Landmark: In 1987 the Tower of Pisa was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nation's cultural organisation Unesco, but as fears grew that it would topple over it was closed to the public in 1990

Back then that area of Italy was very belligerent, with various local land-grabbing factions jostling for position.

Because of the battles between Pisa and nearby Genoa, Lucca and Florence, the construction of the tower was put on hold for almost a century.

Thankfully this allowed enough time for the soil to settle - had there not been that length of break, many believe the tower would have toppled over centuries ago.

When tools were picked up once more, under architect Giovanni di Simone (who had built the Camposanto Monumentale, the fourth and last building to be erected in Cathedral Square) in 1272, the engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other, in an effort to compensate for the tilt.

Because of this, the tower is actually curved. Construction was halted again in 1284, when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of Meloria, and the seventh floor was not completed until 1319. Its stewardship at that point had passed to Tommaso di Andrea Pisano.

Just seven miles from the Mediterranean Sea on the west coast of Italy, the tower, which weighs some 14,500 metric tonnes, is frequently battered by storms that have eroded and discoloured it.

The distinctive, yellowish stone came from the quarries of San Giuliano, visible from the top of the tower on the green hills behind Pisa.

Surprisingly this hasn't happened and until now this has mystified engineers for a long time.

Results from the study have been presented to international workshops and will be formally announced at the 16th European Conference in Earthquake Engineering taking place in Thessaloniki, Greece next month

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5710455/The-secret-Leaning-Tower-Pisa.html#ixzz5F5hxcUsD
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Drug Company Paid Michael Cohen $1.2 Million for Insight Into Trump’s Policy Views - Intelligencer ( New York Magazine )

May, 10, 2018

Drug Company Paid Michael Cohen $1.2 Million for Insight Into Trump’s Policy Views
By
Eric Levitz
@EricLevitz

Nice work if you can get it. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
One month after Donald Trump took office, one of the world’s largest drug companies signed a $1.2 million contract with the new president’s personal lawyer. Technically, the Swiss firm Novartis reached this agreement with Essential Consultants LLC; but that company’s sole consultant was Michael Cohen — and his “consulting” proved to be anything but essential.

In truth, “Essential Consultants” was a slush fund, in which major corporations deposited bribes to Trump’s attorney, and from which he withdrew funds to buy the silence of an adult-film star with whom the president allegedly fornicated (we know all of this now thanks, in part, to that porn star’s attorney).

If that all sounds possibly illegal — and definitely crooked — that’s because it is. But the shadiness of Cohen’s enterprise appears to be mitigated (however slightly) by its incompetence — while businesses tried to buy influence over our government through Cohen, they don’t seem to have been very successful.

AT&T gave Trump’s lawyer $200,000 for “insights” into the administration, just as said administration was reviewing its desired merger with Time Warner. Then, in a break from the Republican tradition of law antitrust enforcement, the White House moved to block the takeover.

And Novartis may have gotten an even rawer deal: Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Cohen called Novartis’s then-CEO Joe Jimenez, and promised the pharmaceutical company access to Trump and his inner circle — particularly, to those administration officials involved in crafting health-care policy and tax law — if Jimenez agreed to lease Cohen’s “consulting” services. Or so Novartis employees tell Stat News.

Alas, as Novartis explained in its official statement on the matter Wednesday, the drug company got much less than it had bargained for: After a single meeting with Trump’s attorney, “Novartis determined that Michael Cohen and Essential Consultants would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated related to US healthcare policy matters and the decision was taken not to engage further.” And yet, since “the contract unfortunately could only be terminated for cause, payments continued to be made until the contract expired by its own terms in February 2018.”

Stat News offers a more detailed account of the company’s rationale:

“At first, it all sounded impressive, but toward the end of the meeting, everyone realized this was a probably a slippery slope to engage him. So they decided not to really engage Cohen for any activities after that,” the employee continued. Rather than attempt to cancel the contract, the company allowed it to lapse early in 2018 and not run the risk of ticking off the president. “It might have caused anger,” this person said.

So: The president’s lawyer reportedly phoned up a drug company and offered to sell it access to the White House (and, implicitly, influence over American health-care policy), then gave them it virtually nothing of use — but nonetheless led its employees to believe that that if they didn’t continue paying him $100,000 a month, the U.S. president might grow angry and use his political power to punish them.

And, thanks to our nation’s robust “free speech” protections, it’s not yet clear that any part of this scheme violated the laws of our proud democracy.

Stormy Daniels’s Lawyer Claims Russian Oligarch Reimbursed Michael Cohen - Intelligencer ( New York Magazine )

May 8, 2018
6:51 pm
Stormy Daniels’s Lawyer Claims Russian Oligarch Reimbursed Michael Cohen
By
Benjamin Hart
@realaxelfoley

Things aren’t looking great. Photo: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP/Getty Images
Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels’s high-profile lawyer, tweeted on Monday that Trump fixer Michael Cohen had received $500,000 from a company controlled by a Russian oligarch last year, and that the money may have acted as a repayment for Cohen’s $130,000 payoff to Daniels.

Michael Avenatti

@MichaelAvenatti
 After significant investigation, we have discovered that Mr. Trump’s atty Mr. Cohen received approximately $500,000 in the mos. after the election from a company controlled by a Russian Oligarc with close ties to Mr. Putin. These monies may have reimbursed the $130k payment.

7:05 AM - May 9, 2018

In a second tweet, Avenatti attached a document purporting to show that the oligarch, Viktor Vekelsburg, and his cousin Andrew Intrater “routed eight payments to Mr. Cohen through a company named Columbus Nova LLC beginning in January 2017 and continuing until at least August 2017.”

Michael Avenatti

@MichaelAvenatti
 The Executive Summary from our first Preliminary Report on Findings may be accessed via the link below.  Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen have a lot of explaining to do.https://www.dropbox.com/s/pskgpwr15r48tx5/Executive%20Summary.pdf?dl=0 …

7:06 AM - May 9, 2018

Executive Summary.pdf
Shared with Dropbox
dropbox.com

The document includes a perhaps even more explosive detail: that multiple large companies had also made payments to a different Cohen company, perhaps in an effort to influence Trump administration policy.

Robert Maguire

@RobertMaguire_
 Here's something that could be a REALLY big deal: In addition to the payments from a Russian oligarch, Avenatti says that major companies -- like Novartis and AT&T -- were making large payments in 2017 and 2018 to the LLC that Michael Cohen set up to pay Stormy Daniels

7:43 AM - May 9, 2018
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AT&T confirmed that it had made the payments shortly after Avenatti’s tweets were posted.


Christina Wilkie

@christinawilkie
 BREAKING: @ATT confirms payments to Cohen LLC >>

Full Stmt: “Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration. They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017”

8:38 AM - May 9, 2018
As did Novartis:

Jon Swaine

@jonswaine
 Spokesman for NOVARTIS does not dispute Avenatti's assertion that it paid Cohen. Says: "Any agreements with Essential Consultants were entered before our current CEO taking office in February of this year and have expired."

9:37 AM - May 9, 2018

Vekelsburg, who is one of the world’s richest men, was recently sanctioned by the Trump administration over suspected 2016 election meddling.  The New York Times reported last week that Vekelsberg was stopped at an aiport and questioned by agents working with Special Counsel Robert Mueller about two months ago; CNN reported on Tuesday that agents asked him about the payments to Cohen,  seemingly confirming Avenatti’s assertion of the transaction.

Cohen’s lawyer denied Avenatti’s characterization:

Natasha Bertrand

@NatashaBertrand
 Michael Cohen’s attorney, Steve Ryan, won’t discuss the $500,000 Michael Avenatti says Cohen received from Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg in 2017. “I understand the shorthand you’re using, but it wasn’t a payment,” Ryan says before hanging up.

7:20 AM - May 9, 2018

Cohen is in dire legal and emotional straits after federal investigators raided his office last month.

Malaysia election: What just happened? - BBC News

May 10, 2018

Malaysia election: What just happened?

A 92-year-old man has just pulled off the most extraordinary election result in Malaysian history. Here's how it happened and what it might mean.

A first time change
Malaysia has been ruled by the same coalition of parties - the Barisan Nasional - since it stopped being a British colony in 1957.

Although its popularity had been declining, most people believed Prime Minister Najib Razak was going to lead it to yet another win.

But the official count showed it didn't win enough seats in parliament to claim victory, a shock to most observers.

Why did they get voted out?
As ever, it's mostly the economy. The cost of living has gone up a lot and the government brought in a new tax on goods and services - never a popular move.

Najib Razak has always denied that he was involved in any corruption
But the biggest story out of Malaysia in recent years has been corruption. Najib Razak had set up a special fund to encourage foreign investment. But people involved in it have been accused of using it for their personal gain.

Najib was even accused of pocketing $700m. Importantly, he has always denied this and has been cleared of wrongdoing at home, but he and the fund are still being investigated by several countries, including the US, so it's been damaging for Malaysia's reputation.

That's where Mahathir Mohamad comes in
He's been prime minister before, as leader of the BN. For 22 years in fact, from 1981 until he stood down in 2003. He was also something of a mentor to Mr Najib.

This woman shows her inked finger, a way of making sure people don't vote twice
But two years ago he shocked everyone by saying he was so "embarrassed" by the corruption allegations that he was leaving his old party and would join the opposition, the Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope).

Then in January, he said he would directly challenge his former mentee in the election, saying he felt confident of victory "unless Najib cheats".

And there were a lot of cheating allegations during the election: people said they didn't get their postal ballot, and the government rejigged some constituencies in a way critics said would help it win.

The government also jumped on the global "fake news" panic and rushed through a law which meant you could be jailed for sharing it.

Some people thought that was a way of shutting down criticism of the government. Mr Mahathir has even been charged under the law.

What happens now?
On Thursday, Mr Najib said he accepted "the verdict of the people". But he also said the next prime minister would have to be someone who wins the trust of MPs.

Mr Mahathir will almost certainly be that prime minister, but he has promised to hand over power in two years because - reminder - he is 92.

Opposition supporters are ecstatic.
That might deliver another stunning twist, because that next prime minister could well be Anwar Ibrahim - another former ally of Mr Mahathir's who he kicked out of office.

Anwar Ibrahim is currently in jail for allegedly having sex with a male employee.

Why is there a war in Syria? - BBC News

Why is there a war in Syria?
15 March 2018

A peaceful uprising against the president of Syria seven years ago has turned into a full-scale civil war. The conflict has left more than 350,000 people dead, devastated cities and drawn in other countries.

How did the Syrian war start?

Even before the conflict began, many Syrians were complaining about high unemployment, corruption and a lack of political freedom under President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his late father Hafez in 2000.

In March 2011, pro-democracy demonstrations erupted in the southern city of Deraa, inspired by the "Arab Spring" in neighbouring countries.

When the government used deadly force to crush the dissent, protests demanding the president's resignation erupted nationwide.

The unrest spread and the crackdown intensified. Opposition supporters took up arms, first to defend themselves and later to rid their areas of security forces. Mr Assad vowed to crush what he called "foreign-backed terrorism".

The violence rapidly escalated and the country descended into civil war.

Eastern Ghouta damage seen from space
'My daughter's losing her hair from fear'
How many people have died?

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group with a network of sources on the ground, had documented the deaths of 353,900 people by March 2018, including 106,000 civilians.

The figure did not include 56,900 people who it said were missing and presumed dead. The group also estimated 100,000 deaths had not been documented.

Meanwhile, the Violations Documentation Center, which relies on activists inside Syria, has recorded what it considers violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, including attacks on civilians.

It had documented 185,980 battle-related deaths, including 119,200 civilians, by February 2018.

What is the war about?
Image copyrightAFP
It is now more than a battle between those for or against Mr Assad.

Many groups and countries - each with their own agendas - are involved, making the situation far more complex and prolonging the fighting.

They have been accused of fostering hatred between Syria's religious groups, pitching the Sunni Muslim majority against the president's Shia Alawite sect.

Such divisions have led both sides to commit atrocities, torn communities apart and dimmed hopes of peace.

They have also allowed the jihadist groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda to flourish.

Syria's Kurds, who want the right of self-government but have not fought Mr Assad's forces, have added another dimension to the conflict.

Who's involved?

The government's key supporters are Russia and Iran, while the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia back the rebels.

Russia - which already had military bases in Syria - launched an air campaign in support of Mr Assad in 2015 that has been crucial in turning the tide of the war in the government's favour.

The Russian military says its strikes only target "terrorists" but activists say they regularly kill mainstream rebels and civilians.

Iran is believed to have deployed hundreds of troops and spent billions of dollars to help Mr Assad.

Thousands of Shia Muslim militiamen armed, trained and financed by Iran - mostly from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, but also Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen - have also fought alongside the Syrian army.

The US, UK, France and other Western countries have provided varying degrees of support for what they consider "moderate" rebels.

A global coalition they lead has also carried out air strikes on IS militants in Syria since 2014 and helped an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture territory from the jihadists.

Turkey has long supported the rebels but it has focused on using them to contain the Kurdish militia that dominates the SDF, accusing it of being an extension of a banned Kurdish rebel group in Turkey.

Saudi Arabia, which is keen to counter Iranian influence, has also armed and financed the rebels.

Israel, meanwhile, has been so concerned by shipments of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah in Syria that it has conducted air strikes in an attempt to thwart them.

How has the country been affected?

As well as causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, the war has left 1.5 million people with permanent disabilities, including 86,000 who have lost limbs.

At least 6.1 million Syrians are internally displaced, while another 5.6 million have fled abroad.

Neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, where 92% of them now live, have struggled to cope with one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history.

The UN estimates 13.1 million people will require some form of humanitarian help in Syria in 2018.

The warring parties have made the problems worse by refusing aid agencies access to many of those in need. Almost 3 million people live in besieged or hard-to-reach areas.

Syrians also have limited access to healthcare.

Physicians for Human Rights had documented 492 attacks on 330 medical facilities by the end of December 2017, resulting in the deaths of 847 medical personnel.

Much of Syria's rich cultural heritage has also been destroyed. All six of the country's six Unesco World Heritage sites have been damaged significantly.

Entire neighbourhoods have been levelled across the country.

A recent UN assessment found 93% of buildings had been damaged or destroyed in one district of the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus.

How is the country divided?

The government has regained control of Syria's biggest cities but large parts of the country are still held by rebel groups and the Kurdish-led SDF alliance.

The largest opposition stronghold is the north-western province of Idlib, home to more than 2.6 million people.

Despite being designated a "de-escalation zone", Idlib is the target of an offensive by the government, which says it is targeting jihadists linked to al-Qaeda.

A ground assault is also under way in the Eastern Ghouta. Its 393,000 residents have been under siege by the government since 2013, and are facing intense bombardment as well as severe shortages of food and medical supplies.

The SDF meanwhile controls most territory east of the River Euphrates, including the city of Raqqa. Until 2017, it was the de facto capital of the "caliphate" proclaimed by IS, which now controls only a few pockets across Syria.

Will the war ever end?
Image copyrightAFP
It does not look like it will any time soon but everyone agrees a political solution is required.

The UN Security Council has called for the implementation of the 2012 Geneva Communique, which envisages a transitional governing body "formed on the basis of mutual consent."

But nine rounds of UN-mediated peace talks - known as the Geneva II process - since 2014 have shown little progress.

President Assad has appeared increasingly unwilling to negotiate with the opposition. The rebels still insist he must step down as part of any settlement.

Meanwhile, Western powers have accused Russia of undermining the peace talks by setting up a parallel political process.

The so-called Astana process saw Russia host a "Congress of National Dialogue" in January 2018. However, most opposition representatives refused to attend.

Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria in response to rocket fire - BBC News

May 10, 2018

Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria in response to rocket fire

Israel's defence minister said Israel it had "no interest in escalation" following the strikes
Israel says it has struck almost all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria, in response to an Iranian rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli military said 20 rockets were fired by Iranian Revolutionary Guards at its positions overnight.

It retaliated by targeting what it said were Iranian weapons depots, logistics sites and intelligence centres.

There was no immediate comment from Iran, which has sent troops to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian state media reported that the army's air defences had repelled an "Israeli aggression" on Syrian territory, shooting down scores of missiles.

But a military source told the official Sana news agency that some missiles had hit a number of air defence battalions, radars and an ammunition depot.

Israel has vowed to stop what it considers its arch-enemy's "military entrenchment" in Syria, and it is believed to have carried out several strikes on Iranian facilities, including one on an airbase in April that killed seven Revolutionary Guards.

Israel occupied most of the Syrian Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it in a move not recognised internationally.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that early on Thursday morning about 20 rockets had been launched at its forward posts in the occupied Golan by members of the Revolutionary Guards' overseas operations arm, the Quds Force.

IDF spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said four rockets were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome aerial defence system, while the others fell short of their targets. No injuries or damage were reported.

The rocket attack was ordered by the commander of the Quds Force, Gen Qassem Soleimani, Col Conricus said, adding that it had "not achieved its purpose".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the civil war in Syria, confirmed that "dozens of rockets" were fired from Quneitra province and the south-western Damascus countryside towards the occupied Golan.

Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights were placed on high alert on Tuesday night
It did not identify the forces responsible, but it said the rocket attack came after Israeli forces bombarded Baath, a Syrian-controlled town in in the Golan demilitarized zone.

A senior source in an Iranian-led regional military alliance that supports Syria's government also told AFP news agency that Israeli forces had fired first.

How did Israel respond to the rocket fire?
An IDF statement said fighter jets had struck "dozens of military targets" belonging to Iran inside Syria. They included:

Intelligence sites associated with Iran and the "Radical Axis" - a term Israeli officials use to refer to an alliance between Iran, Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas
A logistics headquarters belonging to the Quds Force
A military logistics compound in Kiswah, a town south of Damascus
An Iranian military compound north of Damascus
Quds Force munition storage warehouses at Damascus International Airport
Intelligence systems and posts associated with the Quds Force
Observation and military posts and munition in the Golan demilitarised zone
The Iranian launcher from which the rockets were fired overnight
The IDF said it had also targeted several Syrian military air defence systems after they fired at the Israeli fighter jets despite an Israeli "warning".

Syrian military air defence batteries lit up the night sky over the southern city of Deraa
Later, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman told a conference in the town of Herzliya that the IDF had "hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria".

"They must remember that if it rains here [in Israel], it will pour there," he said. "I hope that we have finished this chapter and that everyone got the message."

Mr Lieberman stressed that while Israel had "no interest in escalation", it had to "be prepared for any scenario". "We are facing a new reality where Iran is attacking Israel directly and trying to harm Israel's sovereignty and territories," he added.

גלעד ארדן

@giladerdan1
 Last night #Israel made clear:

We will not tolerate threats against Israel's North.
We will not hesitate to strike #Iranian targets in #Syria
We will hold Syria accountable for attacks from its territory

We are not bluffing. We will counter #Iran's terror anywhere, any time.

3:26 PM - May 10, 2018

The latest confrontation came a day after a reported Israeli strike in Kiswah, which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said had targeted an Iranian weapons depot and killed 15 pro-government fighters, including eight Revolutionary Guards.

Why does Israel hit Iranian interests?
Iran is Israel's arch-foe and has repeatedly called for an end to the existence of the Jewish state.

It is a key ally of Syria's president and has deployed hundreds of troops to the country. It says they are there as military advisers to the Syrian military.

Thousands of militiamen armed, trained and financed by Iran have also been fighting alongside the Syrian army.

While supporting Mr Assad, Iran has significantly increased its military presence in Syria - something Israel considers a direct threat.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously warned that Israel might go to war with Iran "sooner rather than later" to stop it attacking.

Mr Netanyahu was also instrumental in persuading the US to end its participation in the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad on course to be world's oldest elected leader - BBC News

May 10, 2018

Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad on course to be world's oldest elected leader

Mahathir Mohamad is on course to become the world's oldest elected leader at 92, after a shock victory in Malaysia's bitterly fought election.

The former PM came out of retirement and defected to the opposition to take on his one-time protégé Najib Razak, beset by corruption allegations.

His historic win has ousted the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which has been in power since independence in 1957.

Jubilant Mahathir supporters filled the streets as the victory became clear.

Mr Najib has said he will "accept the verdict of the people", but correspondents say a smooth transition to power is not a given after such a major political upheaval.

No single party within the coalition won a majority, so technically it now rests with Malaysia's king to decide who forms a government.

Mahathir Mohamad: A political survivor
Najib Razak: Malaysia's tainted political aristocrat
Brief guide to what just happened in Malaysia
How have people reacted?
"Yes, yes, I am still alive," Mr Mahathir told a news conference in the early hours of Thursday. He said his coalition would not seek revenge but would "restore the rule of law".

He also announced - to cheers among his supporters - that there would be a two-day public holiday, adding: "But there will be no holidays for the winners."

The official results showed the opposition Pakatan Harapan - the Alliance of Hope - secured 113 of the 222 seats being contested, including some which have only ever been held by the government. BN took 79 seats.

Crowds of elated Mahathir supporters celebrated his victory in Kuala Lumpur
Rising living costs and long-running allegations of corruption weighed heavily on many voters and saw them peel away from Mr Najib and his once unshakeable coalition.

"I feel that with this change we probably can see something better in the future," Suva Selvan, a 48-year-old doctor, told AFP.

"Our hope for the future is a better government, fair, free and united."

How did Mahathir manage to win?
Mr Mahathir was prime minister, at the head of the BN coalition, for 22 years, from 1981 until he stepped down in 2003.

Under his leadership, Malaysia became one of the Asian tigers - the group of countries which saw their economies expand rapidly in the 1990s. But he was an authoritarian figure who used controversial security laws to lock up his political opponents.

Most infamously his deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, was sacked and accused of corruption and sodomy - and later jailed on the latter charge - when he called for economic and political reforms.

Mr Mahathir was also a mentor to Mr Najib, who became prime minister in 2008.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Mr Najib was widely expected to win despite the corruption cases
But Mr Najib has been dogged by corruption allegations. He has been accused of pocketing some $700m from the 1Malaysian Development Berhad, a state investment fund he set up.

He has vehemently denied all allegations and been cleared by Malaysian authorities but the fund is still being investigated by several countries. Mr Najib has been accused of stifling Malaysian investigations by removing key officials from their post.

Those allegations led to Mr Mahathir's surprise defection in 2016 from Barisan Nasional to join the Pakatan Harapan, saying he was "embarrassed" to be associated "with a party that is seen as supporting corruption".

Then in January, he said he would run for the leadership again.

But despite his historic win, uncertainty hangs over his tenure. Prior to his win, he intended to govern for two years before stepping down. He promised he would arrange a pardon for Anwar, clearing the way for him to be re-elected and take the top job.

Mr Najib (L) was a former protege of Mr Mahathir (C)
'Mountain of challenges'
Analysis: Jonathan Head, BBC South East Asia correspondent

This morning Malaysia has woken to an entirely new situation, the first transfer of power in its history, albeit to a very familiar leader. But there are huge unknowns. How willingly will Barisan Nasional, the coalition which has, in various forms, run the country since independence and embedded itself into all areas of governance, relinquish power?

How well will a disparate coalition, united largely by their desire to oust Najib Razak, work together in government? How smoothly will the plan to gain a pardon for imprisoned opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, and then for Mr Mahathir to hand the premiership to him within two years, actually proceed? And how will they treat Mr Najib, and his high-spending wife, both accused of greed and corruption?

After all the jubilation over an impressive act of defiance by Malaysian voters, there is a mountain of challenges to face.