"Canada has a world-class food safety system and our Government is committed to taking real steps to make it even stronger," said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "This Action Plan is one of the steps our Government is taking to ensure that our system continues to provide safe food for Canadian families today and in the future."

Through the Action Plan, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will launch a number of significant food safety enhancements over the next two years. Most notably, the CFIA will work with consumer groups and industry to develop new regulations that will bring into force the Safe Food for Canadians Act, passed in November 2012.

As a first step, the CFIA is strengthening some of its beef safety rules and has implemented new mandatory requirements that will strengthen the control of E. coli in federally-registered beef plants.

Also, by July 2, 2013, federally-registered plants that produce mechanically tenderized beef cuts, such as steaks or roasts, will be required to label those products as tenderized and with cooking instructions.

While these actions are specific to federally-registered plants, Health Canada also intends to propose broader mandatory labels to identify beef that has been mechanically tenderized at retail outlets like supermarkets. This voluntary practice has been in place since 2012.

This spring, the CFIA will launch a review of the food regulations in Canada that will need to be revised in order to bring the Safe Food for Canadians Act into force. It is expected this work will take up to two years. Active consumer and stakeholder engagement in the process will be important to the success of efforts to bring the new legislation into force.

Consumer groups and stakeholders will have that opportunity at an upcoming food safety regulatory forum in June.

For more information on the Action Plan, visit the CFIA's website at www.inspection.gc.ca/safefood.

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The Forgiveness Project, founded by Marina in 2004, was born from her need to restore the balance from the language of retaliation that dominated politics and the media in the lead up to the war in Iraq: 'I was a journalist with a small voice and I thought 'I need to do something'.'
A striking story of reconciliation in a local paper prompted Marina to start collecting stories of forgiveness and reconciliation with a photographer who she was working and travelling with at the time. Their work was eventually shown as an exhibition called 'The F word – images of forgiveness'.

'The Forgiveness Project uses story telling, real stories of victims and perpetrators of crime and violence, to explore the concepts of forgiveness and reconciliation. The very broadest aim is to inspire people to consider alternatives to revenge, retaliation and resentment. If you hear other people's stories it stimulates an inquiry into yourself.'

Beyond exhibitions worldwide, annual lectures, and story telling sessions in schools, the Forgiveness project runs a victim empathy restorative justice programme in prisons, facilitated by ex-offenders and victims of crimes. It encourages prisoners to explore concepts of forgiveness and reconciliation in a framework that fosters greater accountability and responsibility. Marina said: 'Restorative justice is looking at how we can mend relationships that have been broken with the community, with the family, between victim and offender.'

'So what is forgiveness?' asked Marina. Exploring various definitions, she finally came up with her own: 'Forgiveness is about coming to terms with things that you cannot change. Making peace with them.'

She then took the participants through various existing conceptions of forgiveness, based on stories of people presented by the Project.
She mentioned the vision supported by faiths like Islam and Judaism of forgiveness as a social contract, a moral relationship between self and other. This 'contract' required the perpetrator to be identified and to make repentance before the victim could forgive.

She then explored the relationship between forgiveness and justice, explaining how some people think that justice must come first. Marina warned of the close relationship between justice and revenge but also said: 'Some people need to be in prison. You have to respect the laws of the land.'

But the most accepted notion of forgiveness, she said, is that it is an act of self-healing. There she gave the example of a father who drank to forget the death of his daughter in the Oklahoma bombing of 1995. One day he realised: 'I have to do something different because what I'm doing isn't working.' That is how his path towards forgiveness began.

Then Marina asked: 'How do you forgive when someone shows no remorse but also when the offence has been so extreme and barbaric?' The answer she gave, based on another story, was through 'finding empathy for someone who is imprisoned in their tormented, distorted mind; trapped with a brain that wants to do harm.'

Exploring the impact of forgiveness on the perpetrator, Marina told the story of the founding member of the largest racist skinhead organisation in the world who was astounded when people started reaching out to him including survivors of the Holocaust from the local synagogue. This made the difference.

Finally, bringing this down to ordinary relationships, Marina shared her personal feeling: 'The more I work in this area, and the more I live, and the more I see relationships around me tumbling, […] the more I think forgiveness is the oil of personal relationships. And it's designed for us to be able to co-exist because we as human beings have expectations and when those are not met, we get disappointed. And when we get disappointed, we can either go down the blame and punishment route or we go down the empathy and forgiveness route.'

A participant shared his own story of forgiveness after having seen his parents being killed for being the children of religious leaders in a Marxist revolution, and after being jailed himself for nine years. He shared how in prison he had had nobody to listen to but his inner voice, which led him to forgiveness: 'I realised there is a reward for everything,' he said. 'The reward for forgiving is peace and tranquillity.'

Marina concluded: 'Forgiveness is risky, it's messy, it's difficult, it's costly, it's unpredictable, but it's actually transformative. Forgiveness is a journey. It's not a destination, it's a process. In some cases you move in and out. Every case is different. There is no right or wrong.'

And answering another question, she said: 'All studies on forgiveness show that having a forgiving nature has a good impact on our mental and physical health. We'd be crazy not to give it a go.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLWy0ze-3blCKTzODm92qhe4TcTntsLUXv&v=Fc9DQNpwcng

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• Preferential Tax Treatment: If newly established Japanese corporations locate their Asian headquarters or R&D centers in Tokyo, and satisfy certain requirements, they will be eligible to receive either a reduced effective corporate tax rate, competitive with other Asian cities, or special depreciation rates (e.g. 50 percent of machinery acquisition costs, 25 percent of building acquisition costs) or an investment tax credit (e.g.15 percent of machinery acquisition costs, 8 percent of building acquisition costs).

• Subsidy programs: Subsidies, through the TMG, will be provided for up to 50 percent of recruiting costs, the cost of establishing offices in Tokyo and various notification costs, etc., when locating an office in the Special Zone.

• Consulting services: Accenture will provide management consulting services to foreign companies in the process of examining entry or expansion into the Japanese market until their final decision to locate their Asian regional headquarters or R&D centers in Tokyo. Accenture's services will include the formulation of growth strategies, market research and analysis and the identification of business partners.

• Use of business development center: Companies are able to make full use of the Business Development Center Tokyo, which provides one-stop services by full-time bilingual staff, mainly supporting sales channel development, including responding to overall business inquiries, such as incorporation of enterprise and helping expatriates adjust to life in Tokyo. The services are provided through Mitsubishi Estate, commissioned by the TMG.

Learn more about the Special Zone for Asian Headquarters and Accenture's work in Operations & Management and its global program Delivering Public Service for the Future.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with 261,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US $27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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To help individuals contemplating bankruptcy avoid costly mistakes, Charlotte County, Florida attorney, Mark Martella, has created a Free Special Report on the 'Seven Biggest Mistakes People Make Before Filing Bankruptcy and How to Avoid Them.' The Report can be requested and downloaded immediately by visiting http://www.martellalaw.com.

At a recent seminar, Martella stated that 'Many people costs themselves thousands of dollars by delaying getting information on bankruptcy and making decisions that put them in a worse position by taking the wrong actions. My goal with this Free Special Report is to educate the public so that they can hopefully avoid these mistakes and be in a better position to get a fresh start after receiving a bankruptcy discharge.'

Knowledge is power. A consumer can start their education by visiting http://www.martellalaw.com.

By reading the Special Report, a consumer will learn things like: why one should not take money out of a 401K to pay off a car; why one should not borrow from the equity in a home to pay off credit cards; and why one should not do a short sale on investment real estate. This informative Free Special Report is available at http://www.martellalaw.com .

Contact:
Mark Martella, Esq.
mark@martellalaw.com
941-206-3700

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WASHINGTON – Verizon's new head of public policy outlined the framework policymakers in Washington should consider in modernizing the nation's outdated telecom rules and regulations. Verizon believes that obsolete and unnecessary rules – some of which date back to the late 1800s, and were written for the railroads and to create the Interstate Commerce Commission – work against innovation and investment in the Internet ecosystem.

Speaking at the Media Institute on Thursday (May 16), Craig Silliman, Verizon's senior vice president of public policy and government relations, said in prepared remarks: 'A highly innovative 21st century communications marketplace requires a 21st century policy framework to match the Internet ecosystem that broadband and mobile innovations have helped create. We need a framework to address today's issues: not local wireline voice competition, but privacy, cybersecurity, network management, spectrum policy and more, many of which have a global component.'

In his speech, Silliman outlined four principles that he believes policymakers should focus on: protecting consumers, encouraging innovation, incenting investment, and, with rapid changes in the industry, technology-agnostic rules that focus on the needs of consumers and ensure flexibility as new innovations and business models emerge.

'Technology changes too quickly to build legislative or regulatory frameworks on specific technologies,' said Silliman. 'The best approach is to protect consumers and to ensure that the rules aren't obsolete as soon as the ink is dry.'

It has been almost 20 years since Congress overhauled telecom rules – the 1996 Telecommunications Act – when many of today's technologies were closer to science fiction than fact.

'The act could not have anticipated the policy challenges that we would face 20 years later, particularly given the extraordinary rate of innovation,' Silliman said. 'It has been only six years since the first smartphone was released, so 20 years is an eternity. What guidance does the 1996 act provide in a world where everyone is carrying a broadband cloud-access device with them? Where video content can be accessed anytime, from anywhere? Where these technologies are beginning to be applied to broader societal challenges like healthcare, energy management, education and more? Not much. Nor should we expect it to.'

Silliman called for a proactive, flexible policy approach – one that would remain current and effective now and into the future. 'The 1996 Telecom Act succeeded in what it was designed to achieve, but almost two decades later it is leaving the FCC to struggle to shoehorn Internet-era technologies into phone-era regulations,' Silliman said. 'I am not suggesting that the answer is to abolish all regulation. But I am suggesting that we need a 21st century policy framework that is designed for 21st century technologies and marketplaces, not 19th century ones.'

Silliman added that broadband platforms provide extraordinary opportunities to transform healthcare, energy management, education and more. 'By eliminating antiquated rules, focusing on meeting consumer needs, and encouraging investment and innovation, we will create the right environment for delivering the amazing promise of broadband and wireless technologies,' he said. 'And in place of optimistic uncertainty, such policies will create a spirit of innovation and a sense of limitless opportunities.'

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with nearly 99 million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500. A Dow 30 company with nearly $116 billion in 2012 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 181,900. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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Despite efforts to overcome the crisis by increasing their own revenue-raising efforts, fewer than one in five poor countries is spending the recommended level on agriculture and only two of five are spending what the World Health Organization recommends on health.

Although many have managed to increase spending in these areas and in others that benefit poor people such as education, this has been funded by a large increase in borrowing. Fears about rising debt, combined with recent aid cuts mean they are now cutting spending.
Cuts make the situation worse

Cuts to agriculture threaten to make an already dire situation worse. One in 8 of the world's people will go hungry tonight. Cuts in health spending meanwhile will undermine recent progress to combat malaria and HIV and AIDS and to reduce the number of children dying before their fifth birthday.

Putting Progress at Risk is based on data from a new Government Spending Watch database, a joint venture between Oxfam and Development Finance International which monitors spending in 52 low income countries. It finds that poor countries' lost $140bn in revenues due to the crisis – a situation compounded in the last two years by aid cuts. As a result, between 2008-13 40 per cent of their extra spending has been funded by borrowing, much of it expensive – for example off-budget private infrastructure finance initiatives and domestic and external commercial bonds.

Matthew Martin, Director of DFI, said: 'Developing countries have made huge efforts to overcome the economic crisis and reach the Millennium Development Goals, but the international community has not been delivering on its promises. Without higher aid flows, countries are being forced to choose between sharply increasing debt burdens or sacrificing spending on food, hospitals and schools.'

Oxfam's Stephen Hale said: 'The idea that developing countries have come through the economic crisis unscathed is wishful thinking. Rising levels of debt are forcing poor countries to cut support to the poorest at a time when they need additional protection from climate change and rising food prices. The quality of investments also need to be improved. Investment in agriculture must focus on supporting small-scale farmers to improve the food security and livelihoods of those that need it most.'

'Dismal levels of investment in agriculture are one of the main reasons why one in eight people in the world are hungry. These new findings constitute worrying evidence that things may get worse before they get better.'
Far from reaching the Millennium Development Goals

The database tracks trends in poor countries' expenditure on areas needed to reach the Millennium Development Goals: agriculture, education, environment, gender, health, social protection and water and sanitation. It measures spending against agreed international targets.

Fewer than a quarter of countries are spending what is needed to deliver education for all or to meet targets on water and sanitation.

Spending is also worryingly low on social protection to fight inequality, climate change and gender. Virtually no donors are funding poor country spending on climate change or social protection.

All of these have been identified as key to global development progress after the MDGs expire in 2015, by a UN High Level Panel considering successors to the MDGs, which is co-chaired by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, and Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom.

Notes to Editors

The Government Spending Watch database can be viewed at www.governmentspendingwatch.org

The report identifies major gaps in data relating to developing country spending in different areas but this was mainly at a detailed level – eg capital vs concurrent spending. It did not affect the top line conclusions about levels of spending on different sectors.

Targets

Countries' spending on agriculture is measured against the commitment of African governments to spend at least 10 per cent of national budgets on agriculture by 2008 (the Maputo commitment). The target has been supported by the World Bank. 19 per cent of countries are meeting this target.

Education expenditure is measured against the target to allocate 20 per cent of national budgets to the sector – a target agreed as part of the Education For All Fast Track Initiative. 24 per cent of countries are meeting this target.

Health spending was measured against both the World Health Organization target of $30-40 per capita – a rate it calculates is necessary to fund essential interventions to avoid preventable debts. 37 per cent of countries are meeting this. Only 3 per cent are meeting the Abuja target to allocate 15 per cent of spending to health.

The International Labor Organization estimates that governments need to spend at least 2.9 per cent of GDP on social protection to provide even basic safety nets. No country is close to meeting that target.

African Union ministers have set a spending target of 0.5 per cent of GDP on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) while the UNDP estimate that 1 per cent is needed to halve the proportion of people without access to safe water and sanitation. 23 per cent of countries are spending at least 1.5 per cent of GDP on WASH.

There are no targets on environment or gender.

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The author says that his book is an attempt to understand what went wrong, with the hope that, as we continue facing similar challenges at home and abroad, we might learn not to tread the same paths.  Otherwise, as Winston Churchill already stated, 'those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it'.  Are we going to repeat similar mistakes with other Middle Eastern countries?

With more than 600 citations, ranging from insider memoirs to the accounts of journalists, former government officials, policy wonks, military leaders, and news broadcasters, the 'Iraq War 2003: What Really Happened Behind The Scenes' develops a thorough analysis of the political forces that led the Bush administration attack Iraq.  It answers questions like:

**What military strategy did the U.S. pursue in Afghanistan that routed the Taliban and nearly annihilated Al-Qaeda within a few months after 9/11? What prevented our troops from administering a coup de grace?

**In his war with Iran, Saddam Hussein used weapons of mass destruction, including several poison gases. Where did Saddam get these WMDs? How were Donald Rumsfeld and GHW Bush involved?

**The war with Iran left Iraq with massive debts. What was Saddam's solution to these debts? What did the U.S. ambassador to Iraq say to suggest our acquiescence?

**What are the fundamental beliefs of conservatism? How have the actions of neo-Conservatives revealed different beliefs, particularly in the areas of government debt, habeas corpus, and the moral basis of sound government? What is a noble lie?

**What is the Tolstoy Syndrome and do you think it affects George Bush?

**The creation of "political capital" enables a President to push through his full political agenda, according to George Bush. How does this concept of "political capital" apply to Iraq?

**What is the connection between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein?**In the summer of 2001, what members of the government believed there was a very strong possibility that al-Qaeda was about to attack? How were their arguments received? The phrase "the system was blinking red" was used at this time. What does it mean?

**How did the Bush administration manipulate public perception and discourse after 9/11 so that it could argue it was trying to avoid war in Iraq?

**Were the French right during the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq? Here, address the evidence for WMDs and the idea that war is a solution.

**What effect did torture have on the war in Iraq? Did it aid recruitment by al-Qaeda? What percentage of American casualties in Iraq can be attributed to non-Iraqi fighters?

**What is asymmetrical warfare? Why is the U.S. vulnerable to this strategy?

When talking about why he believes this book is different, Charles Edmund Coyote says: 'There are countless books out there on the Iraq War, but I wanted to blend together facts from the Iraq-Iran War, and WMDs, to 9/11 warnings and Osama bin Laden's escape.'

The book 'Iraq War 2003: What Really Happened Behind The Scenes' by Charles Edmund Coyote  is now available in Kindle format.  For more information go to: http://www.amazon.com/B00BIL0BW2/ (Kindle copies can be read through Amazon's Cloud reader or by downloading an app to your computer, tablet or smart phone).

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Addressing journalists at the UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Cameron said that members of the High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which includes President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, 'nailed our colours to the mast with one clear overarching aim – end extreme poverty in our world.'

Building a framework to succeed the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the panel, appointed last year by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, aims to create a development agenda that will also focus on protection of the rule of law, good governance and holding Governments to account, which comprise what Mr. Cameron called 'the golden thread of development.'

'It is a real breakthrough that agreement is emerging to include goals that go to the heart of this golden thread that links open economies and open societies, fair and accountable institutions, equal economic and political opportunities for women, open and fair rules to boost enterprises and growth,' Mr. Cameron told reporters.

A statement released after the conclusion of the three-day meeting, said the panel reiterated 'the imperative need for a renewed global partnership that enables a transformative, people-centred and planet-sensitive development agenda, realized through the equal partnership of all stakeholders.'

The panel is due to present its report on 30 May to the Secretary-General, who participated in today's discussions.

Also today, Mr. Ban and Mr. Cameron met privately to discuss a host of issues, including the best means of getting the warring parties in Syria to come to the proposed international conference to be held in Geneva next month 'with serious delegations and a real willingness to make compromises,' especially on the issue of a transition.

The two leaders also underlined the importance of UN investigations on allegations of the use of chemical weapons, according to a readout from the office of Mr. Ban's Spokesperson.

Also during the meeting, Mr. Ban thanked Mr. Cameron for his leadership and his support to the United Nations on several issues, including Somalia, Mali, Syrian refugees, the impressive level of UK development assistance, and the UN-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The importance of using the coming period as an opportunity to make progress on the Cyprus issue was also discussed.

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IOTC member states agreed on important measures for the management of tuna fisheries and other vulnerable species such as white-tip sharks, which are not to be retained and need to be released unharmed if possible, while purse seiners can no longer set around whale sharks and cetaceans.

One very positive outcome was the adoption of a proposal by the Maldives with regard to interim target and reference points, and a framework for management decisions to be taken in response to changes in stock status.

A reference point is a benchmark value that helps managers decide how the fishery is performing and is often based on an indicator such as fishery stock size or the level of fishing. Fisheries scientists conduct a fishery stock assessment to provide estimates of a fishery stock size and fishing mortality over time. Reference points serve as a standard to compare those estimates based on our understanding of the biological characteristics of the targeted species.

"This is an important step towards the implementation of full harvest control rules and paves the way for the development of management tools essential for a sustainable fishery", said Dr Wetjens Dimmlich, Indian Ocean Tuna Coordinator for WWF's Smart Fishing Initiative.

"WWF welcomes the increasing involvement of Indian Ocean coastal developing states in conservation proposals, demonstrating an awareness of the need to responsibly manage tuna fisheries in the region," Dr Dimmlich added.

"Negotiation and successful adoption of the Maldives proposal for the management of tunas in the Indian Ocean is indeed a giant leap forward in the history of IOTC.

"We are now confident and convinced that together we can make IOTC an effective tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organisation", said Dr Hussain R Hassan, the Maldives Minister of State for Fisheries and Agriculture, and head of the Maldives' delegation.

WWF looks forward to continuing work in cooperation with the Maldives Government and other developing coastal states in the region to improve the management and conservation of tuna stocks.

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5 Things to Know for Hea​lthy Individuals

1. Under the health care law, insurance companies can no longer drop you when you get sick just because you made a mistake on your coverage application.
   
2. Parents have new options to cover their children . If you have children under age 26, you can insure them if your policy allows for dependent coverage. The only exception is if you have an existing job-based plan, and your children can get their own job-based coverage.
   
3. Job-based health plans and new individual plans are no longer allowed to deny or exclude coverage to any child under age 19 based on health conditions, including babies born with health problems.
   
4. Starting in 2014, if your income is less than the equivalent of about $88,000 for a family of four today and your job doesn't offer affordable coverage, you may get tax credits to help pay for insurance.
   
5. Starting in 2014, if your employer doesn't offer insurance, you will be able to buy insurance directly in the Health Insurance Marketplace that gives you power similar to what large businesses and members of Congress have to get better choices and lower prices.

1. Under the health care law, if you have been uninsured for at least six months and have a health condition, you may be able to get health insurance through the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan
   
2. If a new insurance plan doesn't pay for services you believe were covered, you now have new, clear options to appeal the decision .
   
3. Insurance companies can no longer drop you when you get sick just because you made a mistake on your coverage application.
   
4. Starting in 2014, job-based and new individual plans won't be able to exclude you from coverage or charge you a higher premium for a pre-existing condition, including a disability.
   
5. Starting in 2014, if your income is less than the equivalent of about $88,000 for a family of four today, and your job doesn't offer affordable coverage, you may get tax credits to help pay for insurance.
   
6. If you have insurance and have problems with your plan or questions about your coverage, get help through the Consumer Assistance Program .
   
7. If you have been rejected for insurance, learn more about your rights and find out how to appeal denied claims .

Reference: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/information-for-you/individuals.html

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In addition to the Executive Order, the White House released a Memorandum (PDF) explaining how federal government agencies will comply with the new open data policy.

This Memorandum requires agencies to collect or create information in a way that supports downstream information processing and dissemination activities. This includes using machine­ readable and open formats, data standards, and common core and extensible metadata for all new information creation and collection efforts. It also includes agencies ensuring information stewardship through the use of open licenses and review of information for privacy, confidentiality, security, or other restrictions to release.

It provides a forward-thinking set of guidelines for open data to be released by U.S. federal agencies:

Open data: For the purposes of this Memorandum, the term 'open data' refers to publicly available data structured in a way that enables the data to be fully discoverable and usable by end users. In general, open data will be consistent with the following principles:

• Public. Consistent with OMB's Open Government Directive, agencies must adopt a presumption in favor of openness to the extent permitted by law and subject to privacy, confidentiality, security, or other valid restrictions.

• Accessible. Open data are made available in convenient, modifiable, and open formats that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched. Formats should be machine-readable (i.e., data are reasonably structured to allow automated processing). Open data structures do not discriminate against any person or group of persons and should be made available to the widest range of users for the widest range of purposes, often by providing the data in multiple formats for consumption. To the extent permitted by law, these formats should be non-proprietary, publicly available, and no restrictions should be placed upon their use.

• Described. Open data are described fully so that consumers of the data have sufficient information to understand their strengths, weaknesses, analytical limitations, security requirements, as well as how to process them. This involves the use of robust, granular metadata (i.e., fields or elements that describe data), thorough documentation of data elements, data dictionaries, and, if applicable, additional descriptions of the purpose of the collection, the population of interest, the characteristics of the sample, and the method of data collection.

• Reusable. Open data are made available under an open license that places no restrictions on their use.

• Complete. Open data are published in primary forms (i.e., as collected at the source), with the finest possible level of granularity that is practicable and permitted by law and other requirements. Derived or aggregate open data should also be published but must reference the primary data.

• Timely. Open data are made available as quickly as necessary to preserve the value of the data. Frequency of release should account for key audiences and downstream needs.

• Managed Post-Release. A point of contact must be designated to assist with data use and to respond to complaints about adherence to these open data requirements.

The Memorandum provides some more information about how U.S. government information will be made reusable:

Ensure information stewardship through the use of open licenses – Agencies must apply open licenses, in consultation with the best practices found in Project Open Data, to information as it is collected or created so that if data are made public there are no restrictions on copying, publishing, distributing, transmitting, adapting, or otherwise using the information for non-commercial or for commercial purposes.

Depending on the exact implementation details, this could be a fantastic move that would remove any legal confusion about using federal government data. By leveraging open licenses, the U.S. federal government would be doing a great service to reusers by communicating those rights available in advance. And, if the U.S. truly wishes to make federal government information available without restriction, it could consider using a tool such as the CC0 Public Domain Dedication. CC0 is used by many data providers to place open data directly in the public domain. We've already suggested this (PDF) as an option for sharing federally funded research data.

The White House should be commended for taking another positive step forward to ensure that U.S. government data is made legally and technically accessible and useable.

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WASHINGTON, DC — Save the Children, American Jewish World Service, Bread for the World, CARE, The Modernizing Assistance Network and Oxfam America released the following statement today in advance of the Senate and House committee mark-ups of the 2013 Farm Bill:

"With more than 870 million people suffering from hunger worldwide and Congress looking to ensure wise use of taxpayer funds at home, the 2013 Farm Bill represents a crucial opportunity to make our international food aid programs both more efficient and more cost-effective.

Unfortunately, the current Senate draft Farm Bill, due to be marked up next week, includes the same incremental steps toward reform as last year, but fails to address the fundamental changes that are so badly needed. We urge Senate leaders to work with the Administration to achieve stronger reforms in food aid programs so that American tax dollars can go farther and American compassion can reach more people in need. On the House side, we remain disappointed that the House Agriculture Committee draft once again fails to incorporate any reforms.

In his 2014 budget request, President Obama proposed common sense reforms that would feed millions more people and save lives by delivering aid faster with no additional cost to the taxpayer. This proposal sets an important precedent in building a more modern food aid program. Proposed reforms include allowing for greater flexibility in how the U.S. delivers food to hungry people overseas and ending the inefficient method of having aid groups sell food aid overseas to fund development programs, a practice known as "monetization." This increased flexibility is a part of a package that would allow food aid to go farther, feeding 2-4 million additional people. These reforms have been greeted with interest by members on both sides of the aisle.

While we are supporting the Administration's request that the FY 14 Appropriations bills be the vehicle for food aid reform, we recognize that there are several potential paths forward for Congress to achieve these much needed improvements to our international food aid program, and we are fully committed to working with leaders in Congress, including members of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees, to get it done this year."

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in 120 countries, including the United States. We aim to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives by improving their health, education and economic opportunities. In times of acute crisis, we mobilize rapid assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters.

Without you...A Child Goes Without. See how you can help: http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8412951/

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• Minimize the habitat damage and bycatch of indiscriminate fishing.
• Ensure that adequate forage fish are in the water to feed the larger ecosystem
• Promote ecosystem-based fisheries management

That's why we were so excited when the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (Council) recently reached a long-awaited milestone in transitioning toward an ecosystem-based approach to managing seafood harvest. The Council's adoption of a Fisheries Ecosystem Plan (FEP) establishes not only a comprehensive foundation for considering the condition of the California Current Ecosystem in harvest planning and management, but sets a leading example for modernizing fisheries management across the globe.

How is ecosystem-based management different? Instead of focusing on an individual ocean issues or species, the strategy shifts to the entire ecosystems in which such species or concerns exist. So decision-makers then consider the habitats that ocean wildlife require at each stage of life, their roles as predator and prey, the natural variations in populations in different places and at different times, and of course the critical role played by humans—climate change, ocean acidification, demands for food and recreation, etc.

Until now, managing the vast and life-giving harvest of seafood from the world's oceans has followed a species-specific approach. This has contributed to well-known and tragic consequences, such as collapsed fisheries and the communities that depended on them.

The Fisheries Ecosystem Plan adopted last month gives the Pacific Fisheries Council a dramatically more comprehensive and useful suite of information to consider when making decisions on fisheries policy. The plan rests on a description of Pacific ecosystem dynamics that affect, and are affected by, Council harvest policy. It also establishes a set of initiatives to gather and assess additional ecosystem data for to use in future management decisions. Critically, they can guide Council policy within individual fishery Management Plans and also inform effects and tradeoffs between them. Initiative #1 will develop data and tools for use in managing the food base for Pacific fisheries – called 'forage fish', an essential ecosystem component, and assist in prohibiting fishing for currently unmanaged species of forage fish. The Council will discuss this critical preventative measure in June.

Though the Fisheries Ecosystem Plan is informational for now, meaning it holds only advisory power, it is a critical step in establishing a foundation for truly ecosystem-based management. The real effect of the plan will flow from its ecosystem initiatives, and action on the Forage Initiative in June will reveal how much early stock the Council is putting into its important new ecosystem plan.

These first steps taken in the Pacific region will hopefully serve as early indicators for the rest of the country as we work to promote and improve fisheries management. Read more about the Law That's Saving American Fisheries here: http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/fisheries/new-report-the-law-thats.html

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Cape Town, South Africa – Infrastructure development is one of the top political priorities in Africa. The lack of existing infrastructure and future investments is a key factor hampering the continent's economic development, trade and jobs creation. At last year's World Economic Forum on Africa, 35 companies, multilateral development banks, NGOs, regional experts and organizations formed a Business Working Group to address this challenge.

The resulting initiative, co-led by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency, aims to accelerate project preparation and implementation of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), a portfolio of crucial projects for regional infrastructure development on the continent. The heart of PIDA is the Priority Action Plan (PAP), 51 programmes promoting regional integration. The Business Working Group is working to add a private-sector perspective to the implementation of the PAP.

Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Tunis, stated that 'the AfDB welcomes the positive partnership and collaboration with the World Economic Forum in establishing the BWG … We are confident that, through this results-driven dialogue, key bottlenecks will be removed and immense opportunities created for the private sector.'

The BWG has developed a methodology to identify and prioritize projects that may benefit from private sector acceleration. Strategic Infrastructure in Africa: A business approach to project acceleration, a report released today by the World Economic Forum in collaboration of the Boston Consulting Group, introduces this methodology and gives an overview of potential new ways to finance infrastructure project acceleration. The report offers a private-sector perspective for project assessment and can serve as a guide for public officials seeking to attract private investors.

A Worldwide Issue

The infrastructure investment gap is not just an African challenge. While many governments do not have the financial resources to develop the required infrastructure assets, institutional investors are seeking attractive, long-term investment opportunities. In such an environment, public-private partnerships (PPPs) can boost infrastructure. Despite this seeming fit of demand for and supply of private capital, too few projects get off the ground.

Strategic Infrastructure: Steps to Prepare and Accelerate Public-Private Partnerships, a report released today by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, outlines government best practices for overcoming the various challenges of the PPP delivery model and for closing the preparation gap. Citing case studies of past PPPs, it details the complex preliminary actions that the organizers of a PPP must undertake. Four best-practice areas come under scrutiny: managing the project-preparation process; conducting a feasibility study; structuring the contract; and enhancing the enabling environment.

Hamish Tyrwhitt, Chief Executive Officer, Leighton Holdings, Australia, and Chair of the Forum's Strategic Infrastructure Steering Committee, emphasized that to 'prepare bankable PPPs, robust project planning with clearly stated objectives, strategy and risks is essential.' Any government may use the framework presented in this report as guidance for PPP preparation and to accelerate infrastructure development for the benefit of society.

Rashad R. Kaldany, Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Washington DC, and a Member of the Forum's Strategic Infrastructure Advisory Committee, commented that the report 'will be valuable in infrastructure projects in any given country … It can bring significant results in terms of economic growth in a socially and environmentally sustainable way.'

With the support of the Government of South Africa, the World Economic Forum on Africa is being held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 8 to 10 May. Over 1,000 participants from 80 countries are taking part. Under the theme Delivering on Africa's Promise, the meeting's agenda will integrate three pillars: Accelerating Economic Diversification; Boosting Strategic Infrastructure; and Unlocking Africa's Talent.

The Co-Chairs of the World Economic Forum on Africa are Frans van Houten, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management and the Executive Committee, Royal Philips Electronics, Netherland; Mo Ibrahim, Chairman, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, United Kingdom; Mustafa Vehbi Koç, Chairman of the Board, Koç Holding, Turkey; Frannie Léautier, Executive Secretary, The African Capacity Building Foundation, Zimbabwe and Arif M. Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive, Abraaj Group, United Arab Emirates.

Notes to Editors

More information is available at http://wef.ch/africa13
View the best photographs from the Annual Meeting on Flickr at http://wef.ch/africa13pix
Watch live webcasts of sessions at http://wef.ch/live
Watch video-on-demand, opinions and analysis of key sessions at http://wef.ch/africa13insights
Become a fan of the Forum on Facebook at http://wef.ch/facebook
Follow tweets from participants on our twitter list at https://twitter.com/davos/wefafrica
Follow the Forum on Twitter at http://wef.ch/twitter and http://wef.ch/livetweet (hashtag #WEF)
Read the Forum:Blog at http://wef.ch/blog
Follow the Forum on Google+ at http://wef.ch/gplus
The Forum Media App is available here http://wef.ch/publicapps

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The standard offers a consistent national approach to biosecurity and is applicable to bee operations of all types and sizes.

"Protecting bee health is important to safeguarding the bee industry and the Canadian agricultural industries that depend on it," said Minister Ritz. "The value of the honey and bee products industry is substantial, and many other valuable crops are reliant on pollination by bees. Canada has seen rapid growth in pollination-dependent crops such as fruits and vegetables. In fact, approximately $2 billion in agricultural products rely on bees."

"Healthy bees contribute to a healthy economy," said Minister Ritz.

"The development of a national bee biosecurity standard is the culmination of a cooperative effort on behalf of the Government of Canada, provincial governments and the industry," commented Rod Scarlett, Executive Director of the Canadian Honey Council. "It represents an important step in the growing awareness and contribution of the apicultural sector to Canadian agriculture."

The National Farm-Level Bee Biosecurity Standard was developed through a partnership with the honey bee, bumblebee and alfalfa leafcutting bee industries and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). It was developed in collaboration with producers, industry associations, academia, and provincial governments. Funding was provided by the Growing Forward policy initiative of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

To learn more about biosecurity, visit the CFIA's website at www.inspection.gc.ca/biosecurity.

Follow us on Twitter for the latest on animal health: www.twitter.com/CFIA_Animals.

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According to court documents in the case of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. A Chicago Convention Center, LLC, Anshoo Sethi, and Intercontinental Regional Center Trust of Chicago, LLC, (Civil Action No. 13-cv-982), Judge St. Eve, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, ordered the return of more than $147 million in escrowed funds for 'an investment scheme defrauding foreign investors.'  At that time 297 foreign investors had contributed to the project as part of the EB-5 pilot program, which gives foreign investors a path to residency in return for financing job-creating domestic projects with half-million dollars or more. 

Court records indicate that USREDA's swift action in assembling and financing a renowned team of legal experts, along with many concerned consultants and agents in China, gave many investors immediate representation and a strong voice for priority in Federal Court. It often takes several years for courts to return seized funds because of the many complicated and divergent motivations of the investors, plaintiffs and defendants. However, the Federal Court and the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") were sympathetic toward the investors' plight in this case, and their prompt action reinforced the U.S. regulatory and legal system as unmatched in honoring the rights and liberties of the individual. As a result of this court order, many people around the world remain confident and hopeful as they dream about a better life for themselves and their families. A number of these families received their reimbursements already last week according to the USREDA spokesperson.

USREDA President and CEO Mr. Joseph Walsh couldn't be happier about the ruling: "We feel that it is the best possible outcome, as the people were protected," Walsh said. "It's good for the investors because they have received their money back quickly, and therefore retain the opportunity to pursue U.S. residence through the EB-5 program; it's good for China and other countries worldwide because they see how the 'Rule of Law' is upheld here in the U.S. Courts; and it's good for the United States because jobs and economic growth are being created here as a result."

United States Regional Economic Development Authority, LLC ("USREDA") is one of the largest and most respected processors of investment-based immigration (EB-5). By connecting investors with emerging organizations in key growth sectors such as innovation, real estate, tourism, and university and governmental infrastructure, USREDA is building wealth without borders for its clients.

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TORONTO — The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) will honour the youngest victims of the devastating 2008 earthquake in China's Sichuan province by holding a live tribute on the opening weekend of its summer exhibition Ai Weiwei: According to What? The Gallery invites community members who can read Chinese and speak any Chinese dialect to participate in a live version of Ai Weiwei's voice recording Remembrance (2010), which names the thousands of schoolchildren who perished in the disaster on May 12, 2008.

Beginning today, the Gallery is collecting names of volunteers who wish to participate in the reading of the names to be held at the AGO on Aug. 18, 2013. Registration is now open at www.ago.net/aiweiwei-names. Directed by Gein Wong, artistic director of Toronto performing arts company Eventual Ashes, this community initiative will run in conjunction with Ai Weiwei: According to What?, which opens the day prior on Aug. 17, 2013, and runs to Oct. 27, 2013.

Remembrance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFHrRLEy5yI&feature=youtu.be

A haunting reminder of that immense loss of life in 2008, Ai's artworks Remembrance (2010) and Names of the Student Earthquake Victims Found by the Citizen Investigation (2008-11) originally brought together thousands of community volunteers to gather and record an archive of the names of the Sichuan schoolchildren who were killed when their government-constructed schools collapsed. The AGO's reading of the names will take place in the exhibition space, offering a poignant remembrance of each child's name, birth year, gender and school.

Ai, who is under constant surveillance and has been unable to leave China since the government confiscated his passport in 2011, is supportive of the AGO's effort. The earthquake marked a watershed moment for Ai's artistic practice and activism. In the wake of the disaster he began to raise serious questions—via online platforms and through his artwork—about the transparency of government, issues of accountability and freedom of expression in China. When government officials refused to release the number of deaths, or acknowledge any accountability, Ai launched a 'citizens' investigation' to gather the children's names, ensuring that neither the victims nor the devastation would be forgotten.

Ai wrote, 'Can these facts be altered? The hearts stopped beating, their limbs decayed, and their shouts disappeared with their breath, can these be returned? Wave upon wave of mighty propaganda from the national state apparatus cannot erase the persistent memories of the survivors….People's hearts will call out each of your names, the name that belonged to you will be remembered. When it is called out again, you will rise from the dead and be contented spirits.'

'Ai Weiwei's ongoing investigation into China's handling of the Sichuan earthquake in the face of ongoing detention and surveillance by the government has put him at the centre of a global conversation about freedom of expression,' said Matthew Teitelbaum, director and CEO of the AGO. 'Ai's art and activism have resonated far beyond the art world, and the AGO is committed to engaging the community in this crucial discussion.'

The earthquake's victims, a reoccurring motif in Ai's works, are also commemorated with Snake Ceiling (2009), a large-scale sculpture in the form of a giant snake and formed from commonly used student backpacks in various sizes. Snake Ceiling is currently on view in the AGO's Margaret & Jim Fleck Gallery, offering an advance introduction to the exhibition.

Organized by the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Ai Weiwei: According to What? arrives at the AGO for its only Canadian appearance following a successful run at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. and at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Featuring large-scale sculptures, photography, installations, video and audio work, Ai's art draws on both western consumerism and traditional Chinese symbols and objects. With humour and wit alongside solemn expression, the exhibition chronicles the artist's work from the mid-1990s to the present and makes visible the often fragile links that bind individuals to history, art and each other.

Ai Weiwei: According to What? includes:

• Straight (2008-12), which contains 38 tons of reinforced steel rebar recovered from the rubble of the collapsed Sichuan buildings, arranged to depict China's tectonic and moral fissures and arranged specifically for the exhibition;

• Grapes (2010), showcasing a number of wooden stools from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) that artisans have rejoined into a spiky cluster with seats in, legs out;

• Surveillance Camera (2010), a piece of technology carefully replicated in marble, recreating the device that the Chinese government uses to keep an eye on the artist in his home; and

• He Xie (2010), an installation of more than 3,000 porcelain river crabs. The term 'he xie' refers to the word 'harmonious,' which is part of the Chinese Communist Party's slogan and is now internet slang for official online censorship.

ABOUT AI WEIWEI
Ai Weiwei (b. 1957, Beijing) has been the recipient of numerous grants, honours and awards, most recently in 2012 the inaugural Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent of the Human Rights Foundation; the International Center of Photography Cornell Capa Award; an honourary fellowship from the Royal Institute of British Architects; an Honourary Degree from Pratt Institute; and a foreign membership in the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. Other honours over the past five years include a Chinese Contemporary Art Award for Lifetime Achievement; an International Architecture Award for Tsai Residence; Das Glas der Vernunft (The Prism of Reason), Kassel Citizen Award; The Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation Award for Courage; the Skowhegan Medal for Multidisciplinary Art; Wallpaper Design Award Best New Private House for Tsai Residence; and a Wall Street Journal Innovators Award (Art). Ai Weiwei is consistently included in top artist and human rights lists, including GQ Men of the Year in 2009 (Germany); the Art Review Power 100, rank 43 in 2009; the Art Review Power 100, rank 13 in 2010; the Art Review Power 100, rank one in 2011; Foreign Policy Top Global Thinkers of 2011, rank 18; and runner up in Time's Person of the Year in 2011. Ai Weiwei helped establish Beijing East Village in 1993, co-founded the China Art Archives & Warehouse in 1997 and founded the architecture studio FAKE Design in 2003. He studied at the Beijing Film Academy, Parsons School of Design and Art Students League of New York; upon returning to China he collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ai Weiwei: According to What? was organized by the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, and curated by the Museum's chief curator, Mami Kataoka.

Generously supported by Emmanuelle Gattuso & Allan Slaight; Hal Jackman Foundation; Donner Canadian Foundation; Francis & Eleanor Shen.

Advance installation of Ai Weiwei's Snake Ceiling is generously supported by Partners in Art.

With assistance from Canada Council for the Arts.

ABOUT THE AGO
With a collection of more than 80,000 works of art, the Art Gallery of Ontario is among the most distinguished art museums in North America. From the vast body of Group of Seven and signature Canadian works to the African art gallery, from the cutting-edge contemporary art to Peter Paul Rubens' masterpiece The Massacre of The Innocents, the AGO offers an incredible art experience with each visit. In 2002 Ken Thomson's generous gift of 2,000 remarkable works of Canadian and European art inspired Transformation AGO, an innovative architectural expansion by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry that in 2008 resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed architectural achievements in North America. Highlights include Galleria Italia, a gleaming showcase of wood and glass running the length of an entire city block, and the often-photographed spiral staircase, beckoning visitors to explore. The AGO has an active membership program offering great value, and the AGO's Weston Family Learning Centre offers engaging art and creative programs for children, families, youth and adults. Visit ago.net to find out more about upcoming special exhibitions, to learn about eating and shopping at the AGO, to register for programs and to buy tickets or memberships.

March 16, 2013 – June 16, 2013: Revealing the Early Renaissance: Stories and Secrets in Florentine Art

Aug. 17, 2013 – Oct. 27, 2013: Ai Weiwei: According to What?

Nov. 30, 2013 – March 2, 2014: The Great Upheaval: Modern Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collection

The AGO is funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Additional operating support is received from the City of Toronto, the Canada Council for the Arts and generous contributions from AGO members, donors and private-sector partners.

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