Mexican baseball manager ‘Paquin’ Estrada reported missing

In this March 4, 2006 file photo, Team Mexico manager Francisco Estrada, left, and pitching coach and former Los Angeles Dodger great, Fernando Valenzuela, right, look out over the field as the team works out before the start of their spring training baseball exhibition game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Tucson Electric Park in Tucson, Ariz. Estrada’s team Los Bravos de Leon reported on Thursday, March 2, 2017, that Estrada is missing since Wednesday, March 1, when he failed to show up for a news conference.

UPDATE 1-Nigeria files new charges against Shell, Eni, others over…

Nigeria’s financial crime watchdog has filed new corruption charges against Royal Dutch Shell, Eni and others regarding the $1.3 billion purchase of a long-disputed oilfield in 2011, according to court documents released on Thursday. The charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and official corruption were made after an investigation by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission found new evidence, Jonson Ojogbane, an EFCC senior prosecutor named in the documents, told Reuters by telephone.

Kyo-Shin-An Arts to Present Kammerraku Show at Tenri Cultural Institute This Month

A 2016 and 2013 CMA/ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award Winner, KYO-SHIN-AN ARTS is a contemporary music organization dedicated to the integration of the Japanese instruments koto, shakuhachi and shamisen into Western classical composition. Kyo-Shin-An Arts’ award-winning concert series at the Tenri Cultural Institute in Manhattan features a blend of KSA commissions with World, American and NY premieres, traditional and contemporary music for Japanese instruments and Western repertoire.

MADD Presents ‘Jes Fan: No Clearance in Niche’, Thru 4/30

The Museum of Arts and Design is pleased to present Jes Fan: No Clearance in Niche , running from March 2 through April 30. This marks the inaugural installation of Fellow Focus , an ongoing exhibition series highlighting the work of alumni of the Van Lier Arts Fellowship at MAD . Funded by the New York Community Trust and introduced to the Museum by its Education Department in 2016, the fellowship provides talented, culturally underrepresented rising artists with financial support and a dedicated studio at MAD for full-time use over four months.

Horrified Press Launches in the Briar Chapbook

Nathan Rowark, editor of Horrified Press in London England, has released “In the Briar,” a chapbook written by Florida author Cynthia Morrison. Morrison, a writer of horror fiction, was compelled to include Florida’s Cassadaga psychic community as well as the infamous urban legend of the “Devil’s Chair” of Lake Helen cemetery located in close proximity.

The Latest: Geneva talks to focus on Syria transition Friday

In this Wednesday, March 1, 2017 frame grab from video provided by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, Syrian forces take up positions during fighting between Government forces and Islamic State group militants in the ancient city of Palmyra, near Homs, Syria. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group.

Xi Jinping may have signaled a huge transformation for China’s economy

More specifically, he gave a speech about the death of highly indebted industrial state-owned enterprises to make room for new more privately owned service industry companies, a painful process to be sure. Which is why it isn’t surprising that since this talk began in earnest, at the end of 2015, Chinese officials spoke in little detail, especially regarding “Authorities must deal with zombie companies in a ‘resolute manner,’ offer laid-off workers new posts or vocational training opportunities, and ensure those who are unable to find a job are covered by the social safety net or other aids, Xi said at the meeting of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.”

BBVA to invest $1.5 bln in Mexico over next four to five years

Spanish lender BBVA will invest $1.5 billion in Mexico over the next four to five years, its chairman, Francisco Gonzalez, said on Thursday at an event in Mexico City. By Jeffrey Dastin SAN FRANCISCO, March 2 Amazon.com Inc has launched a new program to help students build capabilities into its voice-controlled assistant Alexa, the company told Reuters, the latest move by a technology firm to nurture ideas and talent in artificial intelligence research.

March 2, 2017 – Discriminatory’ housing policy raises ire in Rahat

AN UNEXPECTEDLY LARGE crowd of Rahat residents waits yesterday in Beersheba to apply to purchase housing plots.. An incident this week that illustrated the inability of the authorities to organize the marketing of housing plots in Rahat has heightened anger among Beduin residents there who have long felt they are the victims of discrimination by the state.

Suspend visa-free EU travel for US citizens, MEPs say

United States citizens should be denied visa-free access to the European Union before summer because Washington does not allow some EU nationals to enter there without visa, EU lawmakers said in a vote today . The European Parliament vote is set to put pressure on the European Commission, the EU’s executive, to enforce a one-year suspension as a tit-for-tat measure for Washington’s denial of visa-free access to citizens of Poland, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria, all members of the 28-country bloc.

Maharashtra govt launches pilot project to map wakf lands

State government statistics suggest that Maharashtra has around 93,418 acres of wakf land spread over about 23,566 registered properties. In a first step to assess the extent of wakf lands spread out in prime areas across the state, the Maharashtra government has launched a pilot project to map out these properties and the encroachments on them.

Brock basketball takes aim at Ravens

And when Brock takes the court at the Wilson Cup in Ottawa on Friday night, Dwane Casey’s influence will be woven through Charles Kissi’s upstart Badgers squad. Kissi’s team takes an 11-game winning streak into a tough OUA conference Final Four that features the top four-ranked teams in Canadian university men’s basketball.

Bellatrix announces conference call and webcast details and release…

Bellatrix announces conference call and webcast details and release dates for its upcoming 2016 year-end reserves and 2016 financial and operational results Bellatrix announces conference call and webcast details and release dates for its upcoming 2016 year-end reserves and 2016 financial and operational results Bellatrix announces conference call and webcast details and release dates for its upcoming 2016 year-end reserves and 2016 financial and operational results /CNW/ – Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. plans to release its 2016 year end reserve information before markets open on Bellatrix will host a conference call to discuss the year end reserve information as well as the fourth quarter and year-end financial and operational results on .

Syrian army re-enters town of Palmyra as IS defenses crumble

Syrian government forces battling the Islamic State group re-entered Palmyra on Thursday in their quest to again take the historic town they had lost to the militants in December, state media reported. The Kremlin’s spokesman said President Vladimir Putin was informed by his defense minister that Syrian troops had gained control of Palmyra, with support from Russian warplanes.

North Korea ties at worst point in decades, South Korea says

North Korea relations have fallen to their worst point in decades and talks are off the table until Kim Jong Un’s regime is ready to give up its nuclear weapons, South Korea Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said in an interview. “It’s been over 20 years since North Korea’s nuclear threats started, and tensions are at their worst,” Hong, who oversees policy on North Korea, said on Thursday in Seoul.

Merkel visits Egypt for talks on stemming migration

Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said ahead of the trip that Germany wants to help Egypt strengthen its coast guard and crack down on illegal trafficking across the Mediterranean, where thousands of migrants die at sea each year. Merkel held talks with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi shortly after her arrival, and is expected to meet with businessmen, civil society representatives, and Muslim and Christian leaders before heading to Tunisia on Friday.

Abu Dhabi hosts military drill amid Yemen war, Iran tensions

The capital of the United Arab Emirates has hosted a major military exercise before a public audience as the nation fights alongside Saudi troops in Yemen and tensions with Iran remain high. Such maneuvers before the public are rare in the United Arab Emirates, a major Western ally that hosts U.S. troops involved in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Croatia creates panel to study its pro-Nazi, Communist past

Croatia’s conservative government on Thursday formed a council to deal with the country’s previous pro-Nazi and Communist regimes in a bid to overcome the deep divisions that still exist over the Balkan nation’s past. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that the move is an attempt to resolve the issues of the past for the future of new generations in the European Union’s newest member state.

China makes another jab at US in SCS war of words

A senior Chinese politician A defended Beijing’s right to build facilities on artificial islands in the South China Sea in comments that were seen as a veiled attack on the United States. The remarks on Thursday by Wang Guoqing, spokesman for the country’s top political advisory body, came after a US aircraft carrier group was sent to the disputed waters, and the PLA Navy staged combat exercises in the Western Pacific.

The Latest: N. Korean envoy rejects Malaysian autopsy

Media film and photograph a North Korean diplomatic vehicle leaving the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Malaysia is scrapping visa-free entry for North Koreans traveling into the country, the state news agency said Thursday in the latest fallout from a deadly nerve agent attack at Kuala Lumpur airport.

BRIEF-Hongkong Land posts FY profit after tax attributable of $847.8 mln

* Declaration of a fourth interim dividend for year ending 31 december 2016 of 3.274 pence per share Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: ZURICH, March 2 GAM Holding’s management has met with activist investor RBR Strategic Value, Chief Executive Alexander Friedman said on Thursday but he declined to give any details on what was said at the meeting.

Sights set for modest achievements in Syria talks

Syria’s main opposition High Negotiations Committee leader Nasr al-Hariri, informs the media after the round of negotiation with the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 1, 2017. less Syria’s main opposition High Negotiations Committee leader Nasr al-Hariri, informs the media after the round of negotiation with the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de … more GENEVA – Diplomats and negotiators have set their sights on modest achievements in the latest round of Syria talks in Geneva, after a week of discussions centering on setting an agenda for future talks.

BRIEF-Deutsche Boerse says expects 68 mln eur from BATS stake sale in Q1

* Declaration of a fourth interim dividend for year ending 31 december 2016 of 3.274 pence per share Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: ZURICH, March 2 GAM Holding’s management has met with activist investor RBR Strategic Value, Chief Executive Alexander Friedman said on Thursday but he declined to give any details on what was said at the meeting.