Public approval of Prime MinisterShinzo Abe's government slumped after the resignation of twohigh-profile cabinet ministers last week, according to a pollpublished on Sunday, adding more pressure on Abe as he strugglesto turn around the Japanese economy.

Japan's biggest daily the Yomiuri surveyed 1,059 people bytelephone on Friday and Saturday and found support for Abe'sgovernment had fallen to 53 percent from 62 percent in less thana month.

Of those surveyed, 37 percent said they disapproved of thegovernment, up from a 30 percent disapproval rating in aprevious poll on Oct 10.

In the biggest setback since he took office in December2012, Abe lost two cabinet ministers on one day last week,complicating tough decisions on key policies, including whetherto proceed with an unpopular sales tax hike and restarts ofnuclear reactors shut down after the 2011 Fukushimadisaster.

Japan's economy is floundering and analysts polled byReuters have cut their annual growth forecast for a fifthstraight month.

Yuko Obuchi, the daughter of a former prime minister, quitas trade and industry minister on Monday after acknowledgingdoubts over whether her support groups misused political funds.

The Yomiuri survey found 73 percent agreed that it was rightfor Obuchi to quit.

Midori Matsushima also stepped down as justice minister onthe same day over allegations she violated election laws byhanding out paper "uchiwa" fans to voters.

Obuchi and Matsushima were two of five women that Abeappointed in September in a move to win the backing of femalevoters by challenging the male domination of politics in Japan.

Abe hopes to contain the damage through swift replacementsof the two, but other cabinet members including Defense MinisterAkinori Eto, Agriculture Minister Koya Nishikawa and HealthMinister Yasuhisa Shiozaki, also face questions over finances.

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Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's public support slumps in wake of resignations-Yomiuri poll

Charlotte Jee | Oct. 21, 2014

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is seeking suppliers for a replacement framework for the Public Services Network (PSN).

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is seeking suppliers for a replacement framework for the Public Services Network (PSN).

The tender for the framework was originally supposed to launch earlier this month but was affected by unexplained delays.

PSN aims to create a single ICT infrastructure for all UK public sector organisations. The Government Digital Service (GDS) is in charge of the everyday operation of the scheme, with CCS running procurement.

The government hopes it will help to reduce the 2.5 billion the public sector spends on telecoms every year and enable more efficient, joined-up public services.

The framework, named 'Network Services', will be open to the entire public sector and valued at between 100 million to 2 billion depending on the number of call-off contracts, according to a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

It will replace the existing 'PSN Connectivity' framework launched in April 2012 and 'PSN Services', which went live in June 2012.

Network Services is expected to launch in March 2015 and run for up to four years. Public sector bodies will be able to buy services from 10 lots, with a maximum of 25 suppliers offering services in each lot.

The lots cover services for data access, local connectivity, traditional telephony, inbound telephony, IP telephony solutions, mobile voice and data, paging, video conferencing, audio conferencing and integrated communications.

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Cabinet Office launches procurement for new PSN framework

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By Jenny Brown

Last updated at 10:39, Tuesday, 21 October 2014

Cumbria faces a bill of 15 million to replace thousands of aging street lights that are at risk of collapse.

Many of Cumbrias street lights are in need of urgent replacement

A report into the state of the countys street lights has revealed that while 3,300 life expired columns are in need of urgent replacement, there are 9,000 more that are exposed to increased risk of collapse.

In total this is nearly 30 per cent of the street lights across the county.

Many are in a deteriorated condition and are either a risk to the public or in need of structural surveys.

The report, to be presented to Cumbria County Councils cabinet on Thursday, states: The primary purpose of this proposal is to remove the risk, both to the public and workforce, posed by life expired street light columns.

Cabinet will consider the 15m proposals for a new three-year replacement scheme to improve the condition of street lights, including lanterns and cable networks.

A spokesman for the council said: As part of this work, we would carry out a full condition survey of lighting columns countywide to help determine which columns need to be replaced.

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15m to end Cumbria's street light danger

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - ??

Here is a list of road projects around the Heartland scheduled for Tuesday, October 21.

Butler County, MO

Northbound outer road Route 67 will be reduced to one lane while crews make pavement repairs. This section of road is located at County Road 523. Weather permitting, crews will be working on Tuesday, Oct. 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route 72 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform shoulders repairs. This section of roadway is located from Old Route 72 to Route B.

Existing lanes of Route 67 from CR 323 to Route 160/158 will be signed as Route C. The north end of Route C (existing Route 67) will remain closed for about two months as work is completed at the intersection of Route 67, Route C, and CR 323.

Cape Girardeau County, MO

The City of Jackson's annual Asphalt Street and Sidewalk Improvement Program is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, weather permitting. The schedule includes:

The city says roads that will remain open during construction will be restricted to one-lane traffic between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Others will be closed to all traffic in which case detours will be provided. Signs will be posted notifying motorists of work in these areas, and the public is asked to restrict use to local traffic only.

Starting at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 29, contracted concrete slab repair and replacement will begin on Silver Springs Road between Independence Street and Bloomfield Road in Cape Girardeau. The work will cause lane closures. The expected project completion time is about four weeks.

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Heartland road projects for 10/21

TOKYO Two female Japanese cabinet ministers, appointed last month as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abes plan to let women shine, resigned their posts Monday amid allegations of financial impropriety.

Their departures undermine Abes efforts to lead by example when it comes to promoting working women, and they cast a dark cloud over his administration at a difficult time. The prime ministers Abenomics plan to revive the economy looks to be fizzling out, and he must decide in the next few months whether to press ahead with a hugely unpopular rise in the consumption tax.

I apologize to all citizens for what happened, Abe told reporters outside his office Monday afternoon as Trade and Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi and Justice Minister Midori Matsushima resigned within hours of each other.

Abe swiftly appointed Yoichi Miyazawa, a former official in the powerful Finance Ministry, as the new trade and industry minister. He appointed another woman as justice minister, turning to Yoko Kamikawa, who previously served as minister for gender equality and once worked for Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who is now ambassador to China.

I hurried on the selection of the replacements, as difficult tasks are piling up and we must proceed with the economy as a top priority, Abe said.

The resignations mark Abes biggest setback since he returned to the premiership almost two years ago.

The fact that Abe was putting so much emphasis on women makes it even harder for him, said Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo.

The first minister to fall on Monday was Obuchi, a 40-year-old mother of two young children and daughter of a former prime minister, who was widely touted as potentially Japans first female prime minister. Abe last month promoted her to lead the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), making her one of five women in the newly reshuffled cabinet.

With Japans labor force aging and shrinking, Abe has presented women, who often stop working once they get married, as critical to hoisting Japan out of its decades of economic stagnation. He has made a policy dubbed womenomics a key part of his strategy to revive Japans economy through structural reforms.

But the shine quickly came off Obuchis star.

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In Japan, two female ministers quit, dealing a blow to Abe and womenomics

After news broke of the attorney generals resignation, journalists got ahead of themselves

Justice Attorney General Eric Holder is set to resign from his post after six years in the Obama administration (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Hours before Attorney General Eric Holder announced his resignation Thursday afternoon, speculation among reporters about his replacement had already hit a fever pitch. A number of news outlets simply listed the possibilities, while still more began ranking them in earnest, all with little or no sourcing.

NPRbroke news of Holders announcement at 10:40 am, citing two anonymous sources saying that a leading candidate [to replace him] is Solicitor General Don Verrilli, the administrations top representative to the Supreme Court. The forward-looking detail was a natural fit in the story and, to be sure, speculation isnt inherently bad. But amid the Beltways hypercompetitive media market, such details quickly mutate into rampant, often empty conjecture that finds its way into written pieces.

In news stories following NPRs report, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, and Reuters listed possible candidates without naming a favorite. But analyses published soon after instead gravitated toward NPRs Verrilli claim, including The Los Angeles Times, which prefaced its speculation with particularly lax sourcing: Some observers believe WSJ.com devoted a short post to Verrilli being back in the spotlight. And within a few hours, Yahoo News and The Daily Beast labeled the solicitor general the leading candidate emphasis added while analyses at the Post and Vox called him the frontrunner. All of these stories either cited NPRs reporting or referenced anonymous sources.

But it didnt end there, as evident by the Washington Examiners piece: On Wednesday, two names surfaced as possible replacements: Solicitor General Donald Verrilli and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. While Patrick served as an assistant attorney general under President Bill Clinton, its unclear from the Examiner piece whether it was administration officials or simply other journalists who had floated his name in todays discussion. On WSJ.com, meanwhile, a blog post stated, without sourcing, that Patrick was instantly anointed as the favorite to succeed Mr. Holder. Politico called him one much talked-about contender while NBC reported that the Massachusetts governor was the top name always mentioned to possibly replace Holder. Readers cant help but wonder whether the sources referenced in such stories are simply other stories.

Perhaps the emptiest speculation came from a BuzzFeed post, Team Kamala Harris Sees Path to D.C. After Holder Resignation. The piece, suggesting Californias attorney general as a Holder replacement, quotes a Harris backer who heads a nonprofit advocacy group and a press release from Harris herself.

Of course, any of the names mentioned above could very well head the Justice Department one day. And its a reporters job to analyze the administrations thought process, especially when it comes to filling cabinet positions. But until speculation is backed up with real insightand named sourcesspeculation is merely a shot in the dark.

Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to NPR as National Public Radio. The latter changed its name to NPR in 2010.

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Reporters jump the gun on Eric Holder replacement speculation

The following are the decisions taken by the Cabinet at its meeting on 16.10.2014

Sharing of Information among Financial Sector Regulators - The Inter Regulatory Institutions Council has been established with the view to identify issues that require collective action by financial sector regulators to promote financial system stability and development of the financial sector. Financial institutions include licensed banks, licensed finance companies and leasing companies, money brokers, primary dealers, insurance companies, insurance brokers, insurance agents, loss adjusters, institutional agents, stock exchanges and stock brokers/dealers. The proposal made by the President in his capacity as Finance and Planning Minister to enact legislation for the purpose through an Act of Parliament and to instruct the Legal Draftsman to draft legislation for the purpose was approved by the Cabinet.

MoU on setting up Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) - The Chinese President has proposed to establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to ensure regional co-operation for sustainable economic and social development in Asia, as well as to strengthen regional resilience against potential financial crises. Sri Lanka has been officially invited to join the said bank as a founder member. Sri Lanka is a founder member of two of the largest multilateral development financing institutions i.e. World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Establishment of the AIIB will help to mobilize much needed additional resources from inside and outside Asia, remove financing bottlenecks faced by individual economies in Asia and complement existing multilateral development banks to promote sustained and stable growth in Asia. 22 countries across the region have indicated their willingness to join the said bank as founder members. The proposal made by the President in his capacity as Finance and Planning Minister to proceed with the related activities pertaining to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the AIIB was approved by the Cabinet.

National Immunization Policy of Sri Lanka - The main objective of the immunization policy is to have a country free of vaccine preventable diseases of public health importance, by ensuring the use of safe and quality vaccines relevant to health care needs of the people in a sustainable and equitable manner.

The Health Ministry has developed this immunization policy in close collaboration with all stakeholders including relevant professional bodies and government institutions. The above policy document submitted by Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena was approved by the Cabinet.

International Conference on 'Community Water Service' - The third International Conference on 'Community Water Service' was held from August 22 to 24 in Kandy. The theme at the conference was 'Water, Community Development and Prosperity'. About 750 participants which included local representatives from 475 Community Based Water Organizations attended this conference.

The 'Senkadagala Declaration, Sri Lanka' was announced at this conference. The Conference was organized by the Water Supply and Drainage Ministry together with the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, National Community Water Trust and Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum and supported by UNICEF and International Water Management Institute. The above information was provided to the Cabinet by Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

Promoting garments and related industries in Welioya and Musali Divisional Secretaries' Divisions - A survey conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Textile and Apparel and the Sri Lanka Chamber of Garment Exporters in collaboration with the Welioya Divisional Secretariat revealed that there are more than 2,500 workers in the areas bordering Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and Trincomalee Districts who are interested in working in garment industries and around 500 of them have already acquired necessary skills by working at garment industries in other areas. It has been observed that construction of garment factories in these areas will uplift the living standards of the people who were resettled in the said areas by the government after the conflict situation which prevailed some time back. The proposal made by Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen to establish five projects to promote garments and related industries in the Welioya Divisional Secretary's Division in an extent of 50 acres of land belonging to the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority and another five projects in the Musali Divisional Secretary's Division in an extent of 25 acres of state land situated in Kallaru village in the Kondachchi Grama Niladhari Division and to proceed with the related activities was approved by the Cabinet.

MoU between Ceylon Electricity Board and China Machinery Engineering Corporation to provide technical co-operation for the stable and efficient functioning of the Norochcholai Coal Power Project of 3x300 MW - The proposal made by Power and Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, to proceed with activities pertaining to signing of the above Memorandum of Understanding between the two Institutes was approved by the Cabinet.

Standard Operating Procedures for identification and protection of trafficking victims - The National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force chaired by the Justice Ministry Secretary has developed a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the identification and protection of trafficking victims. The objective of the SOP is to enhance the effectiveness of Sri Lanka's anti-human trafficking efforts. The SOP is a national strategy developed in conformity with international conventions to sensitize government stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities in protecting victims and ensuring successful conviction of offenders with the view to protecting human rights of victims. The SOP prepared for the identification of protection of trafficking victims submitted by Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem was approved by the Cabinet.

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[Cabinet Decisions] 18.10.2014

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - ??

Here is a list of road projects around the Heartland scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18.

Butler County, MO

Route 72 in Bollinger County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform shoulders repairs. This section of roadway is located from Old Route 72 to Route B.

Existing lanes of Route 67 from CR 323 to Route 160/158 will be signed as Route C. The north end of Route C (existing Route 67) will remain closed for about two months as work is completed at the intersection of Route 67, Route C, and CR 323.

Cape Girardeau County, MO

The City of Jackson's annual Asphalt Street and Sidewalk Improvement Program is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, weather permitting. The schedule includes:

The city says roads that will remain open during construction will be restricted to one-lane traffic between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Others will be closed to all traffic in which case detours will be provided. Signs will be posted notifying motorists of work in these areas, and the public is asked to restrict use to local traffic only.

Northbound Interstate 55 will be reduced to one lane as contractor crews perform pavement repairs. This section of road is located at the 96 mile marker underneath the Route K overpass. Weather permitting, crews will be working from Friday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 19 from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily.

Starting at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 29, contracted concrete slab repair and replacement will begin on Silver Springs Road between Independence Street and Bloomfield Road in Cape Girardeau. The work will cause lane closures. The expected project completion time is about four weeks.

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Heartland road projects for 10/18

By Jim Acosta, Senior White House Correspondent

updated 12:13 PM EDT, Tue October 14, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- The sure-to-be politically fraught nomination process for Eric Holder's replacement as attorney general will come after next month's midterm elections, the White House said on Tuesday.

An official, speaking anonymously about the nomination process, said Senate Democrats urged the White House to wait until after November's contests to put a nominee forward to head the Justice Department. Democrats are urgently working to maintain control of the Senate, and are expected to lose seats in the Republican-controlled House.

Holder, the last of President Barack Obama's original cabinet members, was a politically divisive attorney general, and the fight to replace him is expected to be rancorous on Capitol Hill.

A nominee could be pushed through a lame duck session after the midterm elections, though other issues on the congressional docket -- like authorizing Obama's use of force in against ISIS -- are expected to dominate proceedings in November and December.

"I do anticipate that Democrats will hold the Senate," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters after Holder resigned. "That said, I also anticipate that whoever the nominee is will earn and ultimately receive bipartisan support."

Democrats close to the nominating process have floated several names as potential Holder replacements: the current Labor Secretary Tom Perez, the former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and former White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler are all considered in the mix.

Others include U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and former Justice Department official Tony West.

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White House: No Holder replacement until after midterms