ProHamas students holed up on West Bank campus
Four benefits of having a wireless security system Sponsored Stories 3 international destinations to visit in 2019 Meghan McCain to release audiobook on conservatism, family Associated PressBIR ZEIT, West Bank (AP) – At 26, Saed Qasrawi is among the oldest students at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank.The leading Hamas activist has been enrolled for eight years, but he has been unable to complete his undergraduate engineering program because he keeps getting detained by Palestinian security forces before final exams.This year, Qasrawi and more than a dozen other supporters of the Islamic militant group tried a new tactic. Since May 5, they’ve remained on campus _ a sanctuary considered off limits to the security forces _ to evade arrest. Top Stories “They are trying to weaken the movement, particularly in the universities because the students are very energetic,” said Mohammed Qadoumi, 22, a pro-Hamas student at Bir Zeit. “The security forces told us `we want to erase your presence,’” he charged.Ishaq Mukhmar, a Fatah student leader in Gaza, also complained of harassment, including banning campus activities of Fatah’s Shabiba youth movement. “We can have some activities here and there, but we can’t say we are allowed to work freely,” he said.In the West Bank, Barghouti’s “Freedom Committee” negotiated an agreement with the security forces earlier this year that student activists would not be arrested, said Qasrawi, the Hamas leader at Bir Zeit University. Despite that, three weeks ago, two of his fellow activists were taken from their homes, Qasrawi said.In response, he and 14 other pro-Hamas students, all wearing black T-shirts with the slogan “Sit-in until the end of arrests,” took refuge on campus.Since May 5, they’ve been sleeping next to the ATM or on mattresses outdoors, showering in quarters used by private security guards and getting meals from the university cafeteria. Seven of the students believe they are wanted by the security forces, and eight said they’ve joined the protest to show support. Even with the tests over, the students are staying on, sleeping on mattresses in the enclosed foyer of the campus ATM machine because they fear they’ll be picked up if they leave.Hamas student activists say President Mahmoud Abbas’ security forces keep harassing them, despite new attempts by him and his Hamas rivals to reconcile and end five years of separate governments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Human rights groups say each side continues to go after the other’s supporters, even though a reconciliation agreement calls for an end to political arrests. Dozens have been detained.The reconciliation agreement, reached in principle more than a year ago, envisions the formation of an interim unity government that would prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections. The deal has not been carried out, though the two sides made another attempt earlier this week by setting a new timetable that would see the unity government formed in early June and elections six months later.Hamas seized control of Gaza from forces loyal to Abbas in 2007, leaving Abbas governing only in the West Bank.The Western-backed Abbas says he shuns violence and hopes to negotiate the terms of a Palestinian state with Israel. Hamas, which killed hundreds of Israelis in shootings and bombings in the past, refuses to drop the option of armed struggle and says negotiations with Israel are a waste of time. Think Tank analyzes the second round of Democratic debates New high school in Mesa lets students pick career paths “Staying here was the only way to avoid detention during the exams,” said Qasrawi, who leads the Hamas student bloc on campus. He said he was arrested at the start of final exams five times over five years and still has a year of studies left.Adnan Damiri, a spokesman for the security forces, denied any of the 15 are wanted. By alleging harassment, they are trying to make excuses for losing the student elections, he said. “We don’t target them,” he said.___Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City contributed reporting.(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 0 Comments Share More Valley freeways to be closed this weekend for improvements Top holiday drink recipes After losing control of Gaza, Abbas dismantled Hamas institutions in the West Bank. In Gaza, Hamas silenced political opponents, including Abbas’ Fatah movement, while setting up a stable government.Halting political arrests was to have been a first step toward reconciliation.“Unfortunately, both sides continue to arrest people and the same goes for summoning” for interrogation, a harassment tactic that forces activists to spend hours at a time at police stations, said Mustafa Barghouti, who heads a committee that is supposed to monitor the situation.Currently, 68 Hamas activists are being held in Palestinian lockups in the West Bank, compared to several hundred at a time in previous years, said Ahmed Attoun, a Hamas lawmaker.In Gaza, more than 20 Fatah members are being held and others are being summoned repeatedly for interrogations, said Fayez Abu Itta, a local leader of the movement.Politically active university students in both territories said they are being harassed by the security forces, though there has been no formal ban on Hamas or Fatah to compete in student council elections.In the West Bank, Hamas blamed its recent losses in elections in four of the main universities, including Bir Zeit, on intimidation by the security forces. Before 2007, Hamas had a strong presence in the universities, running several councils, including that of Bir Zeit, but since the start of the crackdown has not be able to regain control.
<a href=”http://www.etbtravelnews.global/click/27324/” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://adsvr.travelads.biz/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=10&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a5c63036″ border=”0″ alt=””></a> Source = e-Travel Blackboard: J.L Qantas and China Eastern announced yesterday the expansion of their codeshare relationship which will now include services between Australia and China via Singapore.The carrier, which has existing codeshares on China Eastern’s domestic flights, will codeshare on three daily China Eastern services between Singapore and Shanghai from July 1.The agreement also allows China Eastern to codeshare on Qantas services between Singapore and Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.Qantas Group Executive Rob Gurney said the expanded codeshare agreement showed Qantas’s commitment to the Chinese market.“China is an important market for Qantas and for Australia in general, and Qantas is playing its part in developing the already strong business and tourism ties between the two countries” he said.“This continued strengthening of the relationship between the two carriers is good news for Australia- China trade, investment and tourism. He added that the new services complemented Qantas’s daily direct flights between Sydney and Shanghai and its existing codeshare with China Eastern on its domestic network.
STR’s Amanda Hite named one of “30 Influential Women in Hospitality”STR’s Amanda Hite named one of “30 Influential Women in Hospitality”Amanda Hite, president and CEO of STR, has been named by Hotel Management Magazine as one of “30 Influential Women in Hospitality.”“Choosing 30 trailblazing women in hospitality is no easy task—and that is a good thing, we say,” said David Eisen, editor-in-chief of the Questex Hospitality Group. “The hospitality industry, not unlike other industries, historically has had a scarcity of influential women among its ranks—those who are turned to for leadership, for direction, for prudent input. Fortunately, this is changing, with many more women in the types of positions that they always deserved but were not awarded due to a sometimes intransigent corporate mentality. Now, women make up a greater proportion of executive-level roles, which is why it is so difficult to only choose 30 women for our list. However, we feel that these select women are blazing a path not only in hospitality, but in business.”Hite is in her 12th year overall with STR and her second as president and CEO. She served as president and COO for the previous five years before adding the CEO title in June of 2016.“I’m honored to be named with so many women making incredible contributions to the industry,” Hite said. “Serving as a role model and being in a position to empower the advancement of women in our industries is a true passion of mine. I’m grateful to Hotel Management for highlighting our efforts.”Under Hite’s leadership, STR’s employee base has more than doubled to 300-plus people in 15 countries, and the company’s global-leading data sample has grown 210 percent to more than 7.8 million hotel rooms in 58,000 hotels around the globe. The company also has expanded its data and analytics platform into the self storage and health club sectors.Last year, Hite led the implementation of STR’s updated corporate brand, which unified the company’s global entities and aligned its expansion into additional market sectors. In addition, STR completed a 35,000-square-foot expansion to the company’s North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee.Hite, a recipient of The M&A Advisor 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award in 2015, also serves on the boards of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the U.S. Travel Association in addition to a number of leadership roles around the hospitality industry.Source = STR
CSS Implements DocMagic’s Total eClose Solution Corporate Settlement Solutions DocMagic eClosing technology 2016-10-03 Seth Welborn October 3, 2016 524 Views in Headlines, News, Technology
Share Title and settlement services provider Corporate Settlement Solutions (CSS) has successfully implemented DocMagic’s Total eClose solution, according to an announcement from DocMagic, Inc., a provider of fully-compliant loan document preparation, compliance, eSign, and eDelivery solutions.With the integration of the Total eClose solution, CSS can offer a completely new customer experience, gain a competitive advantage, and remain 100 percent compliant with TRID at all times, according to the announcement.“We recognized early on that in order to differentiate ourselves from a crowded marketplace, it was paramount to offer elevated service to our clients,” said Jerome Jelinek, CEO and general counsel at CSS. “With the addition of DocMagic’s Total eClose, we offer lenders the opportunity to transform their mortgage origination process through the elimination of paper, thereby significantly reducing costs and increasing efficiencies.”CSS has created an easy-to-use, out-of-the-box eClosing solution by combining DocMagic’s functionality, services, and integrations into a single offering. The Total eClose functionality from DocMagic unites eNote, eSignature, eNotary, MERS eRegistration, eDelivery, and eVault services to provide paperless end-to-end eClosings.The integration will also allow for easy and convenient eSigning and eNotarization of documents.“We are excited that CSS is successfully leveraging our Total eClose solution to provide a completely electronic closing process for their customers,” said Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic. “As a settlement service provider, it is impressive that CSS has taken a leading role in promoting the benefits of eClosings and as an early adopter, they will enjoy a significant advantage over their competitors.”TRID’s increased compliance requirements and the pending implementation of the Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) requirement have brought the need for fully-electronic transactions to help lenders meet strict timing requirements and recreate compliance checks all throughout the transaction, according to the announcement.DocMagic’s system provides electronic proof and evidence of compliant transactions for future audits by including a data and time stamp audit trail of everyone who has touched the transaction at any level—which allows lenders, originators, and servicers to successfully demonstrate compliance with TRID, which has now been in effect for a year. All eDocuments from the original loan application to the final Closing Disclosure are stored in an eVault, giving lenders and servicers the ability to easily provide proof of compliance.
THE House transport committee rejected on Friday the referral by President Nicos Anastasiades of the law voted last month for a three-cent cut in the road tax for pick-up trucks and double cabs.The law, that was passed by the House plenum on May 19, provides for a three-cent reduction – from ten to seven — per cubic centimetre in the tax paid by the owners of old pick-up and double-cab trucks of up to 2850cc. The reduction was to kick in on January 1, 2018.The president however, referred the law back to the transport committee with the justification that the tax cut will reduce state revenues by about €4m per year, which he said was a “significant amount”. He also cited environmental issues and discrimination against owners of other types of cars.The resident’s letter added that the measure is not environmentally friendly, as it creates an incentive to continue using vehicles that do not have modern antifouling technology and which is presumably energy-intensive.Anastasiades also said that the measure is generally uneconomic as it also creates an incentive for vehicles that de facto consume large quantities of fuel with consequences also in terms of increasing carbon dioxide emissions.In addition, he said, it may be considered as unfair compared to owners of other categories of vehicles, such as saloon cars that have the same cubic capacity, age, etc, as the only difference between the vehicles of these two categories is that the double-cabs have more have more storage space at their rear.In favour of the president’s referral were ruling Disy and the Greens, and voting against were Akel, Diko and Edek that had tabled the bill in question.The referral will now be sent to the House plenum for discussion and vote. From there, depending on the outcome, the president has the right either to refer the law to the Supreme Court or to sign it.Transport committee chairman, Diko MP Giorgos Prokopiou, had said last month that the House bill was designed to correct the injustice against the owners of such vehicles who were medium and low-income earners, usually farmers. The high road tax for pick-up trucks and double cabs was imposed when the price of diesel was much lower than petrol, Prokopiou said, and fuel prices have since come close to being the same, but the higher road tax remained. That forced many owners to immobilise them, he said.You May LikeFigLeaf Beta AppHow to Become Fully Anonymous Online in Less Than 3 Minutes? Better safe than sorryFigLeaf Beta AppUndoClassmates.comLook For Any High School Yearbook, It’s FreeClassmates.comUndoTruthFinder People Search SubscriptionOne Thing All Liars Have in Common, Brace YourselfTruthFinder People Search SubscriptionUndo Pensioner dies after crash on Paphos-Polis roadUndoTurkish Cypriot actions in Varosha ‘a clear violation’ of UN resolutions, Nicosia saysUndoRemand for pair in alleged property fraud (Updated)Undoby Taboolaby Taboola