Motor Codes sets out Customer Care Checklist for motorists
“Standing out from the crowd by making the effort to take extra care of customers is something every Motor Codes garage is committed to,” said Chris Mason, Motor Codes director. “Our Customer Care Checklist offers a simple and effective way for every motorist to benchmark their garage. If it’s not up to scratch, there are over 6,200 great garages to chose from at www.motorcodes.co.uk.”Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Motor Codes Customer Care Checklist – a great garage will:Agree required work with you and check before starting additional jobs.Set a clear price/payment method and won’t change these without checking with you.Encourage technicians to discuss work required in a straightforward way.Not charge for small/easy jobs.Contact you after a few days to ensure you’re totally satisfied.Collect customer feedback and act on it to make improvements.Treat any complaint as an opportunity to restore satisfaction.Leave you feeling well treated and happy to return.Offer you a loyalty bonus or reward.At www.motorcodes.co.uk motorists can search for their nearest subscribing garage using the Garage Finder tool. Additionally, the Code operates a free advice line (0800 692 0825) that has already helped over 2,500 motorists this year – answering questions, providing free conciliation and where necessary initiating independent arbitration. On a daily basis, over 6,200 Motor Codes garages up and down the nation go above and beyond the call of duty to keep their customers happy. Now, Motor Codes has developed a checklist for motorists to help them identify if their garage is a shining star or a rusty rip-off.Stuart White, voted the UK’s top technician and owner of Surrey-based Motor Codes garage ‘Complete Car Maintenance’, supports the drive to raise customer service standards, “Every customer wants to know that their technician is competent and is equipped with the skills required to fix any issue quickly and efficiently. However, this on its own won’t keep customers coming back and won’t raise the standards across our industry, that’s where the Motor Codes Customer Care Checklist comes in. By having a quick guide to refer to, motorists can assess if their current garage is above or below par and make an informed choice regarding where they have service and repair work carried out.”
Her lung had collapsed and she died from a combination of shock and haemorrhage, the court heard.Croatian Manuel Petrovic, 20, and Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, 19, both of Collier Row, Romford, along with a 16-year-old and 17-year-old who cannot be named because of their age, deny murdering Jodie.They appeared at the Old Bailey this morning for the start of their trial.Opening the case, prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said: “Eddie Coyle, Jodie’s boyfriend, says one of the two males was noticeably taller than the other. Eddie saw this taller male swing his right arm in the direction of Jodie’s back. Jodie screamed. The two males ran off, noiselessly disappearing into the darkness from which they had come.”Jodie collapsed to the ground. Using a mobile telephone as a torch, one of her friends could see that Jodie had sustained a deep stab wound to her back and she was bleeding heavily.”None of Jodie’s friends had the slightest idea who could have been responsible for this terrible and cowardly attack.”The attack was so unexpected and so sudden that a number of Jodie’s friends had not even noticed the two males who came upon them in the darkness.” “There is, however, nothing to suggest that Jodie was involved in the supply of drugs or that she might have upset anyone,” he said.”Indeed, the evidence of her character, accomplishments and popularity are entirely to the contrary.”Jodie’s father Peter has described her as ‘a beautiful, well-liked, fun, young woman who judged no one and loved everyone’. “She was a keen student at a local sixth form college and also a member of the Scouts.”The prosecution suggest that Jodie is unlikely to have been the intended target – more likely is that the intended target was somebody else altogether.”The drug dealing world is one of turf wars, rivalries and pathetic claims for ‘respect’. And when drug dealers fall out, they do not take their problems to the police. Instead, they take matters into their own hands. They are prepared to use serious violence in order to prove whatever point it is that they wish to make.”The prosecution allege that all four defendants had gone together in Petrovic’s car to Harold Hill in order to mete out violence – and not, as Petrovic has claimed, to collect money and drugs.”The prosecution allege that all four of them were acting together as part of a joint plan to cause at least really serious bodily harm to someone in that park, even if Jodie was not necessarily their intended target. Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings.
TODAY HAS BEEN the bloodiest day of the assault on Gaza so far, with at least 87 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers killed as attacks intensified.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has described the large number of deaths in the Shejaiya area of Gaza City as a “massacre”, while the Arab League called them a “war crime”. Lifeless bodies in the morgue of the Shifa hospital in Gaza City earlier today. Source: AP Photo/Khalil HamraReports from the scene in Shejaiya described bodies, blackened and charred almost beyond recognition, strewn on the streets, some with whole limbs missing.Thousands of people have fled northern Gaza on the worst day of the attacks since they began just over a week ago. Palestinian medics carry a casualty as they run past a burning building in Shijaiyah in Gaza Source: AP Photo/Lefteris PitarakisThe number of Palestinians victims has soared to 435, with a spokesperson for the emergency services saying more than one third of the victims were women and children. Palestinian medics carry a wounded woman to Shifa hospital in Gaza City Source: AP Photo/Khalil HamraThe Israeli army said 13 soldiers had been killed in a series of attacks inside Gaza on the third day of a major ground operation. It brings to 18 the number of soldiers killed since Thursday – the largest number of soldiers killed in combat since 2006. Source: IDF/Twitter Smoke and flare of an explosion in the Shijaiyah neighbourhood in Gaza City earlier today Source: AP Photo/Adel HanaIn a video message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Palestinians to heed the warnings from the Israeli army and leave their homes.“Don’t stay there, because Hamas wants you to die, and you shouldn’t die for Hamas. They don’t care about you. But we [Israel] want you to be safe,” he said. Source: IsraeliPM/YouTubeThe Israeli Defence Forces tweeted that they have a moral obligation to defend the Israeli population, and said it was already taking precautions to minimise deaths: IDF Chief of Staff: “There are no militaries like ours. There are no militaries that drop leaflets and telephone civilians before a strike.”— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 20, 2014 A short-lived ceasefire which was supposed to last for two hours collapsed when Hamas fired rockets towards Israel.US Secretary of State John Kerry has blamed Islamic militant group Hamas for the continuation of the conflict, saying they are refusing all ceasefire efforts.“It’s ugly, obviously. War is ugly, and bad things are going to happen. But they [Hamas] need to recognise their own responsibility,” Kerry told ABC television in the US.He urged Hamas to “be responsible and accept… a multilateral ceasefire without conditions”.Additional reporting by AFPRead: Brief Gaza truce ends as fresh Israeli bombing campaign pushes death toll over 400 > Photos: Thousands attend ‘die-in’ protest in Dublin over bombardment of Gaza >
By Sulayman BahUncapped Gambian player Dawda Ngum’s decision to break his contract is one that has come not without controversy.Ngum left his club on mutual consent this week barely one year into his two-year contract.Trelleborg FF, a third tier side who secured the central midfielder last year, on Tuesday announced they’ve parted ways with the Gambian ‘in good form.’The announcement to let go the 24-year-old followed several meetings between the player and the club’s board.The meeting reached a consensus for Ngum and the club to go their separate ways. The move means, the relegation threatened third division side will have to do without the 24-year-old who’d been the continuously in the middle of the park during last campaign.Mattias Kronvall Trelleborg Sports director wasn’t forthcoming when questioned whether the alleged event has triggered any unrest within the current squad.The player has not immediately replied to the allegation when contacted by Foroyaa Sport yesterday.TFF stares relegation in the face as they sit four places from the table basement on twenty-seven points in twenty-three league matches.Dawda featured thirteen times this current season as opposed to his twenty-one season-match last term.]]>
The sentencing of a Brush Prairie man convicted in April of his father’s murder has been postponed until July.Troy Fisher, 43, was originally scheduled to be sentenced Thursday by Clark County Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson.That has been rescheduled for 3:30 p.m. July 2 because of prosecutor scheduling conflicts.Fisher was convicted April 29 of murdering his father, Edward “Bud” Fisher, in August 2011 and stealing thousands of dollars from the victim’s two bank accounts. The body of Bud Fisher has never been found.Johnson found Fisher guilty of first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement, because he shot his father twice, and that he showed a lack of remorse, which is an aggravating circumstance in state law. The aggravating circumstance allows the judge to sentence Fisher to an amount of time greater than the state standard range of 20 years to nearly 27 years. The firearm enhancement adds a mandatory five years to that sentence.Fisher’s case also was notable because the defendant chose to defend himself in the trial. He also will represent himself during the punishment phase.
United Nations: India on Friday said the revoking of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was “entirely an internal matter” with “no external ramifications” and firmly told Pakistan that it has to stop terrorism to start talks, as the UN Security Council held a rare closed door meeting on the Kashmir issue. Briefing the media following the conclusion of the informal meeting requested by China and Pakistan, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said India’s position was and remains that matters related to the Article 370 of the Constitution are entirely an internal matter of India and these have no external ramifications. Also Read – Watch: Donald Trump says Florida faces absolute monster hurricane Advertise With Us After making a statement, Akbaruddin took questions from the reporters gathered at the UN Security Council stakeout. China and Pakistan’s envoys left immediately after making their remarks and without taking any questions. Without naming Pakistan, he said there are some who are trying to project an “alarmist approach” to the situation in Kashmir, which is far from the ground realities. “Stop terror to start talks,” he asserted. Akbaruddin asserted that there are normal diplomatic ways when countries deal with each other. Also Read – Pakistan test-fires 290-km range missile Advertise With Us “That is the way to do it. But using terror to thrive and push your goals is not the way that normal states behave. No democracy will acknowledge or accept talks when terror thrives. Stop terror, start talks.” He said that India’s national position was and remains that matters related to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution are “entirely an internal matter of India. These have no external ramifications. The recent decisions taken by the Government of India and our legislative bodies are intended to ensure that good governance is promoted, socio-economic development is enhanced for our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh,” he said, adding that authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have announced a whole set of measures that the government is undertaking to move towards normalcy. Advertise With Us “We are gratified that the Security Council in its closed consultations appreciated these efforts, acknowledged them,” he said referring to the UNSC meeting that lasted over an hour. Diplomatic sources said the meeting ended with no outcome. On the measures taken by the Indian government following the revocation of Article 370, he said “Prevention is better than cure. The measures that we took were preventive in nature. They were designed to stop terrorists from bleeding our people. In the 10 days that have passed, there are no casualties, no fatalities.” On the Chinese and Pakistani envoys’ remarks after the UNSC meeting, he said, “I’m a much more conventional diplomat. I do my job rather than add to the fire and fury of heightening tensions. For the first time after the end of Security Council consultations, we noted that two states who made national statements tried to pass them off as the will of the international community. National statements (trying) to masquerade as will of the international community.” He said India is committed to gradually removing all restrictions in Kashmir. “Of particular concern is that one state is using terminology of jihad and promoting violence in India, including by their leaders. Violence is no solution to the problems that all of us face,” he said, taking a swipe at Pakistan. “We are sad that terrorism is being fuelled, language and incendiary talk of jihad is being mentioned by people who should know better,” he said, adding that India stands ready to continue its efforts towards peaceful resolution of all issues in an “atmosphere free of terror and violence.” When asked about human rights violations in Kashmir, Akbaruddin said “if there are issues, they will be addressed by our courts. We don’t need international busy bodies to try and tell us how to run our lives. We are a billion plus people. We have a commitment to democracy unlike those who are now trying to speak to me, whose experience is extremely limited. We have vast experience, we will fulfil our goals.” Earlier, briefing the media, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi said the very fact the UNSC meeting had taken place is “testimony to the fact that this is an internationally recognised dispute”. After the UNSC meeting, Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun urged India and Pakistan to settle their differences peacefully and “discard the zero-sum game mentality”. “We call upon relevant parties to exercise peace and not to take actions that will aggravate tensions,” he said. Voicing China’s stand on India revoking the special status of Kashmir, he said “the unilateral action by India has changed the status quo in Kashmir, which is an internationally recognised dispute.” Voicing Beijing’s opposition to India forming a separate Union Territory of Ladakh after revocation of the special status of Kashmir, he said: “India’s actions have also challenged China’s sovereign interests and violated bilateral agreements in maintaining peace and stability in the border areas, and China is very much concerned.” “I want to emphasise that such unilateral practice by India is not valid in relation to China, and will not change China’s exercise of sovereignty and effective administrative jurisdiction over the territory,” he said. India and Pakistan did not attend the UNSC meeting, which was open only to the five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. According to UN records, the last time the UN Security Council discussed the Kashmir issue was in 1965.
Share Courtesy of James Carmody; Allison MarcusJames Carmody has Asperger’s syndrome and is a freshman at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He sat down with Elizabeth Boresow, who graduated from the University of Kansas and also has autism.When you’re facing a major life change, it helps to talk to someone who has already been through it. All Things Considered is connecting people on either side of a shared experience, and they’re letting us eavesdrop on their conversations in our series Been There.James Carmody never had any doubt that he would go to college. He loved learning, he worked hard and he was excited to make a positive impact on the world.But as the end of his senior year approached and college loomed, James was a little worried. James has Asperger’s syndrome — now included under the umbrella term “autism spectrum disorder.” The condition means social interactions can be difficult or awkward for James, who is 18.Sometimes he has a hard time knowing the right thing to do or say. Or, James says, he’ll get hyper-focused on a particular topic or task.He remembers one incident in high school, when he wanted to learn how to clean one of the machines at his part-time job at McDonald’s. But instead of asking for help, “I just went ahead and started touching buttons, and in the end made a mess out of it,” he says. “And that’s a theme in how I behave.”James says he worried that Asperger’s syndrome might make all the changes that accompany college — new friends, new surroundings, new classes — harder.“I didn’t want my condition of Asperger’s to be an impediment to having a fulfilling college career,” James says.Elizabeth Boresow, 28, knows those challenges well. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in music therapy. She is also on the autism spectrum.She talked to James at the beginning of his freshman year at the State University of New York College of Environment Science and Forestry, noting that colleges have resources available for people on the autism spectrum.For example, Elizabeth says, she had a hard time when teachers would assign group projects.“They would just say, find a group of two or three and do the assignment,” she says. “I had trouble initiating getting a group together so one of my accommodations was that a teacher would help me find a group.”The challenge, Elizabeth says, is that in college, unlike in high school, it’s a student’s responsibility to ask for help.“You don’t have a whole team of support that comes and gets together in the same table and says ‘How are we gonna make sure James succeeds?’” she says.Advice from Elizabeth BoresowOn making yourself availableI decided that it was more important to me to spend time with people than to get to do what I wanted. Because, if not, you spend a lot of time by yourself. So, even though I didn’t always have the same idea of fun as everyone else, I spent time going and walking around stores with people, even though I think that’s really boring, because it was a chance to spend time with other people.On learning from social misstepsI have quite a few of them myself. You know, I learned from experience not to ask “Can I pet your baby?” I learned to ask “Can I rub your baby’s back?” One thing I did that helped was I just told people “Hey, I don’t understand,” “Hey, what does it mean when you said this?” And I found in college people were pretty willing to explain it.On strategies to overcome challenges tied to autismThere are certain things that, no matter how many times you try, I feel like, I just don’t get. Like I get lost on a regular basis in places that are familiar, and so what I did was I took meticulous notes on how to enter the building, where I needed to put my badge, how to navigate to the classroom … But there’s a way around.NPR Story Lab intern Franziska Monahan contributed to this report.Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Kolkata: It is for the first to since Independence that the Congress party will have two members in the Lower House of Parliament from Bengal.Congress candidates Adhir Chowdhury from Berhampore Lok Sabha seat and A H Khan Choudhury from Malda South are leading. In two other seats— Murshidabad and Jangipur — Congress candidates are trailing. Trinamool Congress had fielded Apurba Sarkar, an aide of Adhir Chowdhury and Congress MLA from Kandi, who left the Congress and joined the party against Chowdhury. Also Read – Rs 13,000 crore investment to provide 2 lakh jobs: MamataThough the lead of Chowdhury, who had won the seat by 3.56 lakh votes, has come down substantially but he is still able to maintain his lead. Over the past two decades Chowdhury came out as the most powerful leader of Murshidabad. He was the president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress. Trinamool Congress appointed Suvendu Adhikari, the state Transport minister, to look after Murshidabad and Adhikari very successfully brought the district under the party’s control. In the Panchayat election in 2018, the Trinamool got control over the Zilla Parishad. The municipalities in the district are also under the TMC. In the past one year, Chowdhury has been cornered politically. Also Read – Lightning kills 8, injures 16 in stateAll India Congress Committee (AICC) replaced Chowdhury by Somen Mitra as PCC chief. Chowdhury is known to be political rival of Mitra and had pleaded strongly for alliance with the CPIM, which was turned down by AICC. But despite being cornered, Chowdhury continue to nurture his Lok Sabha seat and this has paid him dividend. Trinamool Congress alleged that Chowdhury had secretly struck a deal with RSS who helped him to consolidate his vote. However, he failed to have his control over Jangipur and Murshidabad. In Jangipur, Abhijit Mukherjee ranked third while Khalilur Rahaman of Trinamool Congress is leading. Mafuza Khatun, who joined the BJP from CPIM is holding the second position. In Murshidabad, Abu Taher Khan of Trinamool Congress is leading. The Lok Sabha poll of 2019 has clearly shown that Chowdhury’s control over Murshidabad is over.
To most people, the name Samuel J. Seymour will sound unfamiliar. Seymour, born in Easton, Maryland, in 1860, was the last surviving person who was witness to President Lincoln’s assassination. He was present at Ford’s Theater on the eve of April 14, 1865, when John Wilkes Booth fired a deadly shot at the President. Some nine decades had passed since the event anchored itself in American history when Samuel J. Seymour, at the age of 96, took the hot seat on I’ve Got a Secret.I’ve Got a Secret was a TV game show which originally aired from 1952 until 1967. The format was similar to What’s my Line? — a panel of four famous people were challenged to guess a contestant’s unusual or entertaining secret.Photo from the television program I’ve Got a Secret. From left: Garry Moore, Lindsay Crosby, Betsy Palmer, Phillip Crosby, Dennis Crosby.The secret was shown to the studio audience, as well as everyone watching on television, then each panelist was left with 30 seconds ask the contestant questions. When Seymour appeared in the studio on February 9, 1956, he whispered his secret to host Garry Moore: “I saw John Wilkes Booth shoot Abraham Lincoln.”The four panelists for the day were: Bill Cullen, Jayne Meadows, Henry Morgan, and Lucille Ball.Shown in the presidential booth of Ford’s Theatre, from left to right, are assassin John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Clara Harris, and Henry Rathbone.Cullen was first to try and crack the secret of the elderly man. He would ask him if his secret held a historical and political significance. Cullen eased the job for Meadows, who was next, that this concerned a famous person who held a political office.“You witnessed something to do with Abraham Lincoln,” correctly guessed Meadows, quickly proceeding to ask if the memory was pleasant. “Not very pleasant I don’t think. I was scared to death,” replied Seymour. See the rest in the video below.Seymour was five-years-old when he accompanied his father on a working visit to Washington, D.C. As his father was absent due to his work, the young boy stayed with his nurse, Sarah Cook, and his godmother, Mrs. Goldsboro. The three of them attended the play “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater.Samuel James Seymour was the last surviving person who had been in Ford’s Theatre the night of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865.Seymour remembered the theater and the balcony, adorned with the American flag, reserved for President Lincoln. The President showed up and waved at the crowd. This was apparently the more pleasant memory of the evening.The unpleasant one was made as the play reached its third act, and, as shared by Seymour, “all of a sudden, a shot rang out–a shot that always will be remembered–and someone in the President’s box screamed.”Painting depicting President Lincoln’s assassination.Before appearing on I’ve Got a Secret, Seymour’s account of the assassination night featured in the February 7, 1954, edition of the Milwaukee Sentinel. A clip of the newspaper was shown by host Garry Moore as the episode concluded.“I saw Lincoln slumped forward in his seat. People started milling around and I thought there’d been another accident when one man seemed to tumble over the balcony rail and land on the stage. ‘Hurry, hurry, let’s go help the poor man who fell down,’ I begged. But by that time John Wilkes Booth, the assassin, had picked himself up and was running for dear life,” recalled Seymour.Samuel J. Seymour on I’ve got Secret.John Wilkes Booth was on the run for 12 days after the assassination until he was found hiding in a barn.Read another story from us: The misfortune that haunted the couple by Abraham Lincoln’s side on the fateful nightSamuel J. Seymour passed away shortly after his television appearance in 1956 and a few days ahead of the 91st commemoration of President Lincoln’s death. He was laid to rest at Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.Stefan A. is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to The Vintage News. He is a graduate in Literature. He also runs the blog This City Knows.
Go back to the e-newsletterTravelmarvel is sailing into the New Year with an exciting line up of offers designed to help travel agents sell more Europe tours by river, rail and road for 2017.In its newly launched Europe River Cruising 2017 Preview brochure, the premium tour operator has introduced a new ‘Fly Free’ deal which is available on all river cruise dates, across all cabins, all year round. Flights are with Singapore Airlines or an airline of Travelmarvel’s choosing. Travelmarvel has also announced that all 2017 itineraries will be offered at 2016 prices.There’s good news for individual travellers too, with solo supplements now waived across all 15-day river cruises when booking a category C cabin or above. Agents who book clients in a category A cabin or above can also offer the opportunity to secure return business class flights to Europe through Travelmarvel and partner KLM from just $1995.Commenting on the newly structured offers, Travelmarvel General Manager David Cox said, “We believe that with our 15 day European river cruises – which start from just $5,395, offer free return flights and a choice of 45 dates – we are offering the most competitive premium river cruises available.”Travelmarvel continues to offer its $800 per couple early payment discount when holidays are deposited and paid for in full 10 months in advance. Group bookings of six or more people on any cruise or land/rail and cruise combination of 15 days or more can save an extra $400 per person with Travelmarvel’s ‘travel with friends’ discount. Both are combinable with all other offers.The new brochure offers a choice of 27 itineraries, ranging from river cruises to ocean, land and rail journeys. New itineraries also feature, with Travelmarvel introducing two new fully escorted rail journeys to its portfolio; one to Norway’s Lofoten Islands, and one exploring southern Ireland. Travelmarvel is offering savings of $1,000 per couple on all rail journeys. Also new for 2017 is the opportunity to choose from one of five rail and cruise combinations.Travelmarvel’s offers are available until 31 May 2016 and travel agents are advised to book early to secure the best cabins. Offers are subject to availability and terms and conditions apply.Go back to the e-newsletter
Las Vegas, Nevada – Caesars Palace in Las Vegas officially debuts their new “Garden of the Gods” this March with a grand opening event and full season of surprises.The five new multi-layer pools (Apollo, Fortuna, Jupiter and two side-by-sides known as Bacchus) join the three gorgeous pools (Neptune, Venus and Temple) that already make the Caesars Palace pool area one of Las Vegas’ most recognized icons. This new collection of pools increases the “Garden of the Gods” area to five acres.Featuring sparkling new amenities include swim-up gaming and an 18 ft. waterfall, as well as a new collection of cocktails inspired by the “Garden of the Gods.”Popular interior designers Allard and Conversano created an exclusive line of furniture with azure-colored deck chairs and daybeds that surround each of the pools along with 45 technologically and architecturally-advanced cabanas, offering world-class Caesars Palace service.www.caesarspalace.com